The Truth
by Mandidawna
Summary: Picks up after the Kill. Jenny and her friends go back to CA only to find Julian, but he's different than before and might need Jenny more than he ever thought. Someone else is watching-will they have to play another game? chapter 24 and 25!
1. Chapter 1

**The Truth**

**(Revised)**

…Jenny gave one last glance at the indescribable blue Pennsylvania sky, and then boarded the California bound plane with her six best friends.

Julian took a breath. His first thought was of Jenny leaning over him crying. His second thought was that he should not be able to take a breath or have thoughts. Julian opened his eyes and saw a cream colored hallway. Next to him a small table and with a phone on it and a door with a runic wheel stained with blood and black marker. The sorcerer's house.

**Chapter 1**

_Just breathe Jenny. Breathe. People fly all the time, its perfectly safe…_ Jenny told herself over and over. The turbulence on this flight was particularly bad and Jenny felt as though her heart skipped a beat every time the plane rocked. Jenny felt someone squeeze her hand and looked over to see Tom giving her a reassuring smile. "It's ok Thorny I'm here for you." He scooted a little closer to her so she could rest her head on his shoulder. The only thought in Jenny's head was how the hand holding hers didn't give her the same electric feeling that Julian's did.

_Julian._ Jenny thought. She had so many emotions running through her head. She told herself it would be best to get some rest and sort out all these thoughts and emotions when she had a clearer head, but with another violent bump of turbulence all thoughts of trying to rest were banished from her mind. _I love Tom. I always have. But do I love Julian too? Does it even matter if I love him or not now that he's gone? Yes. It matters. _She thought. _I do love Tom but am I _in_ love with him? _Jenny had to sternly remind herself to be honest. The only person she'd be lying to in this conversation would be herself. _No. I am no longer in love with Tom…wow. _

Jenny lifter her head from Tom's shoulder and quickly glanced at him. He was asleep, his brown hair messy but still very stylish. Next to Tom sat Summer, also asleep with her mouth hanging open. Her blue sun dress a wrinkled mess but one look at her and all you would see is blonde ringlets and cute dimples. Across the aisle Michael and Audrey were also asleep but managing to cuddle despite the cramped airplane seats and arm rest. Michael looked like a teddy bear in his casual tee shirt and sweats while Audrey could have been on her way to any high class event in her black and white pant suit. Zach, Jenny's cousin, was sharing the row with Audrey and Michael and looked just as uncomfortable with the plane ride and Jenny was but at least he was attempting rest. In front of Jenny she could only make out the top of Dee's head but Jenny knew Dee well enough to know that she was playing with her game boy or trying to make conversation with whoever was seated next to her.

Jenny sighed and gently detached her hand from Tom's trying to be careful not to wake him. It just felt wrong to be holding his hand after the realization that she just had. She would always want Tom to be happy more than anything else. Jenny thought _how could he be truly happy if I just pretend that nothing has changed and don't tell him the truth - as painful as it may be. _Jenny looked out the window and the midday sky and forced herself to try and get some rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing! please review gently!  
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**Chapter 2**

The drive from the airport back to Vista Grande was a painful one. The entire ride was spent working out what would be said to their parents as well as the police. The cab company conveniently had a van available so they all whispered ideas in the back as to not let the cab driver know they were working on an alibi.

"What if we say someone had called and told us to come with ransom money and not let anyone know where we were going?" Suggested Dee from the back corner. "I think that makes pretty good sense."

Audrey sighed, "And why would they call us and not Summer's parents? And why take Summer to Pennsylvania? That makes no sense. Tom what do you think?" Tom shifted uncomfortably between Dee and Audrey. "I think we should have talked about this before we even left Jenny's Grandfather's house."

Tom sounded irritated. They all were. They were tired from the stress of the last few days and now slightly jetlagged. Michael chimed in "Jenny what do you think?" All eyes turned towards her. "I think we should work on the kidnapping theory. Just fill in some blanks and try to make it sound more solid." Zach who was quiet the whole way so far spoke up, "I hate to say it but maybe we should work PC and Slug into this…" Everyone looked at each other waiting for protest to come but it never did. Jenny wasn't comfortable with throwing them under the bus especially with the hell they went through, but she was tired and wanted her friends to be protected from whatever the police might think up. "I know it sounds wrong," Zach continued, "but I think it's the only thing that makes sense at this point." Everyone seemed to silently agree. "Ok," Tom said with authority, "Let's do this." The rest of the ride they fine tuned their story and had the cab driver drop them off at the police station.

From then on everything was a stressful, emotional blur. Summer's parents showed up first and practically collapsed with relief her daughter was safe and sound. Everyone else's parents trickled in after that and there was a mix of relief to disappointment to anger. Everything from: "Why did you leave? We were so worried! We couldn't sleep! We were scared something happened to you!" To "How could you do this? You don't tell us your leaving and you take our money?" To "You have to earn our trust back. That was almost unforgivable. You are grounded." Could be heard from the group of parents surrounding their kids.

One by one each of them was called in for a statement. "Jenny Thornton. Come on back." A slightly overweight but stern looking detective called from outside his office door. Jenny tried to look as neutral and innocent as possible. Jenny thought to herself. _We are innocent. We didn't hurt summer, we saved her. We are just lying about how it happened…_

The detective motioned to a chair and Jenny sat. He looked at a notepad on a clip board and simply said, "go ahead." As if it were no big deal. Jenny took a breath and tried to calm her voice so she sounded sure of herself. "Well after Summer's disappearance we had posted several ads on different social networking sights asking for any information about what might have happened to Summer and listed Audrey's home phone number as the contact number. Her dad is always getting phone calls from all over the country because he's a diplomat and there is always some one to answer the phone at their house." The detective didn't look up from the notepad but grunted an mm-hmm for Jenny to continue. "Audrey happened to answer the phone when a guy called with instructions for us to come get Summer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with some ransom money. He said if we told the police or her parents that we would never find Summer. So that's what we did." The detective looked up at her and simply said "ok". He never asked about where they left the money or who had Summer or even where Summer was in Pittsburgh. At least they wouldn't have to tarnish the reputations of PC and Slug more than they had already done. Jenny was filled with relief over not having to throw them under the bus. He motioned toward the door as if to say leave.

Jenny hurried back out to her parents and friends thinking it was only the beginning of a long night of more questions, but was surprised to see only her parents waiting patiently for her. "Where did everyone go?" Jenny thought it seemed like it was too easy for them to get off that easily. They were barely even questioned for five minutes each. Jenny's mom gave her a hug and Jenny smelled the familiar smell of her perfume and hair styling products "Everyone else gave their statements dear. Let's get you home and into bed ok?" Jenny pulled back and smiled at her parents. "Thank you so much for being understanding. I didn't want to lie to you and I hated taking the money without asking, I promise I will pay you back." Her dad put his arm around her shoulders and led her out to the car. "Jenny don't worry about it. You guys did a very brave, although reckless, thing. And if six hundred dollars of our money was a help in getting Summer back to her family then we are happy to give it up."

Once at home, Jenny jumped in the shower and washed off all remnants of the stresses of the Shadow World, and police and questions. She had unfinished emotional business with herself and Julian but she was in no shape to consider those questions now. Being in her house with familiar sounds and smells let how tired she was sink in. She crawled into bed letting her mind and body give into the exhaustion. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

I own nothing its all lj smiths! please review

Chapter 3

Jenny awoke to her sunlight filled bedroom with a sense of peace and calm. She sat up slowly realizing her body was sore from the physical tasks of the shadow world. She looked over at the clock at saw that it was nearly noon. As she got out of bed and walked over to her closet a feeling of guilt hit her. _I didn't dream last night…_ She remembered her promise to Julian of dreaming into a place of light with no shadows. She looked down at the small gold band around her finger and felt a sting behind her eyes. Jenny pushed her feelings aside and got ready quickly for her day and then sat back down on her bed. She imagined Julian sitting in the sun on a grassy hill and prayed that he was in a place like that.

Jenny laid back down and stared at her ceiling. Her feelings for Tom hadn't changed since yesterday but in a strange way it was like a weight lifted off her shoulders to admit to herself she wasn't in love with him anymore. He would always have a special place in her heart as her first love. She loved him as a best friend who she would always want the best for. As her thoughts shifted to Julian she realized she had an ache in her heart for him. _I love him, _she thought. _But I don't know if I could ever fall deeply in love with him like I was with Tom. And now I will never have the chance to find out._ She wanted only happiness for Julian, she knew him better, most likely, than anyone out of all the other worlds. Now when she thought of the shadow man she thought of the times when she could see into his heart, and see a vulnerable child who really only needed love. All the memories of his torment and taunting her pushed to the back of her mind. She wanted to remember him for the man who fell in love with her and protected her for all those years.

Jenny made herself get back up and walk to the kitchen. The moment she smelled pizza she wanted more than anything to grab five slices. Jenny walked over to the cupboard to get a plate when she noticed Joey sitting at the counter with a huge grin on his face. "Hey Joey! I missed you." Jenny said as she walked over to give him a hug and a huge kiss on the cheek. "Eww! Jenny I missed you too but you have cooties!" Joey said as he wiggled trying to get out of her embrace. He finally succeeded and scampered to his room to most likely play some video game.

Jenny loaded up her plate, grabbed a can of soda and walked to the living room. She clicked on the TV, not bothering with changing the channel, and ate as the commercials played on and on. She was almost done with her last slice of pizza when the news came on as displayed a caption reading, MISSING TEEN SUMMER PARKER-PEARSON FOUND. "Ugh. This is exactly what we don't need right now," Jenny groaned. Her father walked into the room and saw what Jenny was starring at. He clicked off the TV and looked at her. "Jenny, we need to talk." Jenny looked at her father and noticed his face was grim. Jenny expected the worst when he said, "Your mother and I have to leave town for a few days." Jenny was still uncomfortable with how serious he was being and feared that he found out something about what they were really up to in Pennsylvania. "You mom's cousin, Lisa, was in a car accident and is in a coma. I hate to leave you at a time like this but your mom isn't taking the news well and this might be her last chance to see Lisa." Jenny's heart dropped for Lisa and her mother. She had only met the woman twice but she knew how often her mother spoke on the phone with her. "Oh, Dad that's terrible! Don't worry about me I really am fine. Go do what you have to, I will just call Audrey if I need company. Me and Joey can just spend some quality time together." Her dad shook his head, "The last thing you need to worry about is Joey after all you've been through. We are sending him to his friend Mark's house. His parents are happy to look after him. You just focus on yourself and getting caught up in school. We are leaving in a few hours and we will call when we get there ok, Dear?" Jenny gave her father a hug and walked back to her parents room to find her mom packing. "Mom? Are you ok?" Jenny's mother looked at her daughter and smiled despite the tears in her eyes. "Of course dear. You are home safe, that's the most important thing. Are you sure you will be alright with us gone?" Jenny didn't hesitate to say she would be fine.


	4. Chapter 4

**i own nothing, its all lj smiths! please review!  
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Chapter 4

After a lazy day of watching TV, catching up on sleep, and bidding her parents and Joey goodbye, Jenny was surprised to find herself getting bored. She thought she would be tired for days after the games and Julian's death but she found herself getting antsy. She didn't want to call Tom even though she knew dragging it out would just be worse for them both. Just as she reached for the phone it rang. Jenny jumped and felt the heat rise in her cheeks. "Stupid phone," she muttered and she clicked the phone on.

"Hello?"

"Jenny! What are you doing? I slept all day and now I need to get out of my house. My parents wont quit asking me the same questions over and over."

"Audrey our minds must be connected somehow because I was just going to ask you to come over."

"Say no more, I'm on my way _cheri._"

When Jenny hung up the phone, a strange but familiar sensation washed over her. She felt her fingers tingle and her pulse quicken. She felt as though someone was watching her. She stood up and looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She felt foolish to say his name but the feeling that she was being watched was too strong. "Julian?" She asked the silence, and had no response other than the slowing of her heartbeat. _Of course I'm alone, I am just paranoid… Unless it's not Julian, what if the other shadow men followed me?_ Jenny turned the TV back on wanting to hear something other silence. Just then the door bell rang and Jenny practically ran to open the door not wanting to be alone all of a sudden.

Audrey gave her million dollar smile and walked in with a designer duffle bag. "What is all that?" Jenny asked amused. Audrey couldn't go anywhere without several outfits. "I am staying with you for a few days. My parents are driving me mad and I need a break as terrible as that sounds with us just getting home and all. Your family won't mind, will they?" Jenny felt relieved at not spending the night alone. "They are gone. Distant family emergency." Audrey went back to Jenny's room and put her duffel bag in the corner then flopped on Jenny's bed and began inspecting her nails. "So Jenny… How are you doing?" Jenny shrugged and said, "I'm fine, but I'm getting tired of saying that over and over." Audrey laughed, "Of course you are, we all are! But I was talking about the whole Julian thing…You were pretty emotional. Can I ask you something?" Jenny sat on the end of her bed, "As long as it's not 'are you ok' you can ask me anything." Audrey sat up and looked at Jenny, "Did you love Julian?" Jenny was taken back for a second. She sighed, "Audrey I have been asking myself that same question for days now." Audrey sat patiently and raised her eyebrows, "That, my dear, is not an answer." Jenny shifted uncomfortably, "I really don't know. He has a place in my heart that's for sure. I think I could love him but I will never really know. If we could sit down and just talk without games and stress and have real conversations maybe I could love him. But that obviously will never happen so I guess all I can say is I love him like a best friend." Audrey sighed and laid back on Jenny's pillows. "Well just never tell that to Tom I guess. He will be insecure around you and blonde dudes for life I'm sure." Jenny stood up and walked over to her closet in search of some PJ's, "About Tom…" Jenny started, "I don't think we can be together anymore." She heard Audrey sit up from behind her, "Is that a joke?" Jenny turned around and gave an are you kidding me look. "Don't look at me like that! You just played three whole games against a shadow man so you could be with Tom! I think I have a right to ask if you're joking." Jenny grabbed her PJ's and went to the on suite bathroom to put them on. "That's just the thing," Jenny said from the bathroom, "during those games I learned things about myself that I never really knew. For some reason now when I think of spending the rest of my life with Tom, it just doesn't feel right. I don't even know how attracted I am to him anymore." This got Audrey into the bathroom with Jenny. She returned Jenny's are you kidding me look. "Jenny, Tom is hot. Very hot." Jenny just looked at her friend, pleading her silently not to make this any harder for her than it already was. Audrey got the message. "Jenny, I love you like a sister and I will always be on your side. It would be impossible for us not to change after everything we went through. Who knows, maybe this will be good for you both. Tom Isn't the only fish in the ocean after all." Audrey came over and took Jenny's hand and led her to the living room. "How about you call Tom right now." Jenny froze. She gave Audrey and are you crazy look, "And say what? He's probably exhausted and this would be the last thing he needs right now. I haven't even heard from him all day." Audrey picked up the phone and extended it out to Jenny, "All the more reason to just get it over with before you guys settle back into your old routines. And who knows? He probably slept all day too and is laying on the couch watching some football game rerun or something." Jenny reluctantly took the phone from Audrey. She clicked the phone on and dialed Tom's number.

"Hello?"

Jenny cleared her throat, "Hi, um Mr. Locke, it's Jenny. Is Tom around?"

She heard him yell for Tom in the background.

"Hello?" Tom sounded tired, or bored.

"Hey Tom, it's me. Can you come over for a few minutes?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be there in 5." Tom clicked off the phone.

Audrey took the phone from Jenny's hand and took her friend by the shoulders. "You can do this Jenny. It's like taking off a blackhead mask, it hurts less the quicker you do it. I'll be upstairs, ok?" Jenny nodded. Audrey was right, this needed to be done as odd as it felt. Jenny couldn't even remember what it felt like to not have a boyfriend. She heard Tom's car pull up in to the driveway. She stole a glance in the mirror in the entry way and tried to wipe the nervous look off her face.

She opened the door before Tom could knock and moved aside so he could walk in. He automatically gave Jenny a hug and kissed her forehead. Tom looked casual and like his usual familiar self. Jenny felt so awkward about this whole situation, she didn't want to hurt Tom. She walked into the living room and sat down on the glider so Tom would have to sit across from her. "What's going on Thorny? Are you ok?" Jenny tried not to wince at the sound of that question, again. "I'm fine… I need to have a serious talk with you." _Oh great way to start this conversation Jenny!_ She mentally scolded herself. Tom instantly grew serious. "I think I know what's coming." Jenny started to explain but Tom cut her off, "You know what, I expected this. I knew that you loved him. When he died I watched you, and I saw so much emotion coming from you that there's no way you couldn't have loved him. But its ok Jenny. I realized after the first game that I wasn't good enough for you."

"Tom no that's not-"

"No Jenny, it's ok. Like I said I knew this was coming. You've changed, I'm not even sure I know you anymore."

Jenny sat there not sure how this conversation got so out of hand. "Tom you are good enough for me. That's not the reason this needs to happen. I love you and I only want the best for you and I want you to be happy. But me pretending that nothing has changed between us won't make either of us happy. Please understand." Jenny stared at Tom wishing she knew exactly what he was thinking. Tom stood up and walked for the door. Before leaving he looked back, "I will always love you Jenny. I see what he saw in you and I'm sorry I didn't see it before. See you at school." Tom shut the door behind him and Jenny sat in stunned silence for a second before asking herself, "Ok what just happened?"


	5. Chapter 5

chapter 5

The next morning Jenny awoke to the smell of fresh coffee. She sat up and looked at the clock to see 6:23 am flashing at her. She groaned and got out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She found Audrey sitting at the counter holding a cup of coffee and flipping through a fashion magazine. Audrey looked up at Jenny and smiled, "Good morning sunshine! Want some coffee?" Before Jenny could answer Audrey was already up and getting her a cup, she noticed Audrey's makeup and hair were done. "How long have you been awake?" Jenny asked taking the hot coffee and sitting down at the counter. Audrey stood across the counter from Jenny and got a serious look on her face. "Have you had any weird feelings since we've been back?" Audrey asked Jenny in a hushed voice. Jenny thought for a second about how she felt the familiar sense of being watched briefly the night before but shook her head no, she didn't want Audrey to worry over something that was most likely Jenny's imagination.

Audrey looked at Jenny as though she was considering whether or not she should say something. "I didn't sleep that well last night. It felt like…we weren't alone." Jenny froze, but Audrey continued, "Every time I would convince myself it was all in my head I would see what looked like a shadow move in your room where there shouldn't have even been any shadows because it was pitch black in there… " Audrey looked at her feet for a second before looking back at Jenny. "Do you think it's possible that one of them followed us?" Audrey didn't have to clarify who 'them' was, Jenny had the exact same thought the night before. Jenny shook herself out of the state of shock she was momentarily in. "I don't know, maybe we are just paranoid… " Jenny started, not wanting to say aloud that it might be possible for the shadow men to still be watching her.

The girls were lost in thought when the phone rang, both of them jumped. Jenny took a deep breath trying to slow her heart beat as she grabbed the phone off the counter, "Hello?" Jenny asked.

"Jenny! It's Michael, is Audrey over there?"

"Hey Michael yep she's here, are you coming over?"

"Sure I'll see you guys in a few. Bye Jenny!"

Jenny clicked off the phone, "Michaels on his way." Audrey smiled, "I really do love him." Jenny couldn't help but smile at her friend. They had Julian to thank for that, he helped them all see what really matters in this life. _I didn't dream again last night, I'm sorry Julian. I hope your somewhere great,_ Jenny thought. "I'm happy for you," Jenny said, "I'm going to run to my room and get ready, ok?" Audrey shooed Jenny with her hand and looked back down at her magazine.

Jenny went to her closet and pulled out a snug long sleeved white shirt and some dark jeans. She brushed her hair and put on her usual makeup. When she reached for her belt her ring caught her eye. She took it off and read the inscription, '_I am my only master,' _Jenny felt an ache in her heart, followed by a feeling of eyes glaring at her back. She turned around and saw nothing. "Seriously?" Jenny asked no one in particular. She put the ring back on and headed out to the living room surprised to see several of her friends lounging there. "Hey guys, I didn't know we were having a party." She saw Dee, Summer, Zach, Michael, and Audrey all look at her with a slightly mortified expression. "What?" Jenny asked growing worried when Michael spoke up, "Do you remember our last party in this house? Never again." Jenny laughed feeling the most like herself since being home. She went over to the love seat Dee was sitting on and squeezed in next to her. "So what's up with you all?" Jenny asked sensing they didn't just swing by in a group to chat.

Dee gave Jenny a look that said something is definitely up, then she spoke up. "Who here has felt like they were being watched since we've been home?" Everyone exchanged glances that said something was definitely going on. Summer shook her head and looked close to tears, "I thought Julian died, I don't want to play anymore games." Zach put an arm around Summer's shoulders. If it weren't for the situation they were all in Jenny would have smiled at the gesture. Michael spoke up, "I'm not an expert on Shadow men or anything, but I doubt they would carve Julian's name back in the rune stave 5 minutes after carving it out." Jenny nodded, "I agree, I think if there is something going on it isn't coming from Julian." They sat in silence for a few seconds until Dee chimed in, "Has anyone heard from Tom? We should probably call him and make sure everything's good with him." Jenny shifted uncomfortably and it seemed like everyone in the room noticed. They stared, waiting for an explanation. Jenny cleared her throat, "Um, Tom and I...we aren't really together right now…" Jenny expected some kind of reaction but received none. Just blank stares as though Jenny just spoke in some other language. Audrey came to the rescue and Jenny released the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Jenny and Tom went through a lot in the games, more than any of us, so it makes sense that it would put a strain on their relationship." Her friends seemed to have regained their composure when Michael opened his mouth to say something and received a sharp jab in the ribs from Audrey. "Oww!" Jenny heard Audrey whisper something along the lines of "its too soon for questions," to Michael. He sat back and rubbed his side.

After another minute of thought filled silence Zach spoke up, "Is there anyway we could find out if there is someone or something watching us?" It seemed like he directed the question to Jenny but Jenny had no answer to it. Dee said, "I think it's obvious something is watching, I don't think we would all have the exact same feeling unless we all have PTSD or something. I just wish we knew what they wanted…"

Jenny was getting tired of this situation. "They shouldn't want anything! They already took Julian! Julian said they shouldn't have a claim anymore!" Jenny was frustrated. She wanted her life and her friend's lives to get back to normal. They had school in two days and a lot of catch up work and they were still getting over everything that happened in the games.

Jenny stood up and yelled, "What do you want? You have no reason to watch us, you already took Julian you have no right to anyone else here! Just leave us alone!" Jenny felt Dee's hand on her shoulder and she realized she was out of breath. Jenny felt the heat rise in her cheeks at her outburst. There was no response from anything that might be watching. The house looked and sounded the same as it did two minutes prior to Jenny yelling. She sat down feeling defeated and slightly embarrassed and said, "I think I need to get out of the house."

Please review! I will try to update tonight or tomorrow!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When they arrived at the pizza place it was nearly deserted. They took a corner booth big enough to fit all of them and ordered a few pizzas and some sodas. "Did anyone get the five pound packet of makeup homework done yet? I am not ready to go back to school and have to answer more questions about where we've been." Dee said miserably. Jenny hadn't even looked at a book since being back and she had no desire too. That would take more concentration than she had at this moment in time, but she was ok with going back to school for the distraction from supernatural issues.

They chatted about superficial things as they ate, no one wanting to bring up the depressing thought of more shadow world problems. Jenny tried to focus on the conversations her friends were having but her mind kept going back to Julian. _I hope he's happy, _Jenny thought, _it would kill me if he was in a bad place or being tormented by the other shadow men- _Jenny forced the negative thoughts out of her mind. She refused to picture Julian as one of the demented creatures that they found in the arcade in Joy land park. She wanted to remember his beauty and the sacrifice he made for her.

"What do you think Jenny?" Jenny pulled herself out of her thoughts, "I'm sorry Summer, I dazed out for a second. What did you ask?" Summer smiled, "It's ok, I asked if you would want to go to a movie Friday." Jenny smiled at her friends glad they were thinking of doing typical teenage things, "Of course I'd love to. It sounds fun." Michael spoke up, "Hey Jenny, would you mind if I invited Tom? I just don't want him to feel deserted by all of us-Oww!" Audrey glared at Michael while Michael looked under the table at the foot Audrey just stomped on, "Why do you keep hurting me?" Jenny couldn't hide a smile, "It's ok Audrey, Michael you can call Tom. Just because we aren't together doesn't mean I expect any of you to stop being friends with him, that wouldn't be fair." Michael nodded and shot a triumphant look at Audrey.

Jenny felt tired all of a sudden, "Hey guys I think I'm going to head out. Audrey can I take your car back?" They had ridden down in Audrey's car with Michael following in his. Audrey fished her keys out of her purse and handed them to Jenny, "Do you want me to go with you?" Jenny shook her head and gave a reassuring smile, "No don't be silly, I'm fine, I just need to lay down for a few." Dee continued to stare at Jenny. "I'm done eating, I'll go with you if you don't mind," Dee said. Jenny said, "Ok, but only if you want to I'm just a little tired is all." They bid their friends goodbye and headed out to Audrey's red spider. They were silent as they buckled in and Jenny started the car.

Dee spoke up as soon as Jenny was on the main road, "I know your sick of hearing this question, but I have to ask - Are you really ok?" Jenny smiled at her best friend, "Yes. I am fine. I don't even think I can count on one hand how many times I've been asked that," Jenny laughed. Dee smiled and said, "I know! It's like the never ending question!" They were silent once more and Dee broke the silence yet again, "I knew you and Tom were going to break up." Jenny looked at Dee, "How did you know that?" Dee smiled and stared at the road, "I saw how you reacted to Julian's death, and I saw how Tom was looking at you. You've just changed so much I couldn't see your relationship ever being the way it was before." Jenny sighed, Dee knew exactly what Jenny was thinking and it was a relief to not have to explain it to her. Jenny said, "I think we were just hanging on by a thread ever since the games started. But weirdly its like a huge load off my shoulders to not have to worry about Tom right now. I still love him, but it's just not the same and we've been the same for so long that anything different just can't work." Dee put a hand on Jenny's shoulder, "I'm proud of you." Jenny smiled at her friend as they pulled into the driveway.

Jenny got out of the car and walked up to the front door, Dee called from the car, "I dropped my wallet under the seat and there's so much crap in here that its gonna take me a sec to find it!" Jenny laughed and called back, "I'll leave the door unlocked!" Jenny pulled her keys out of her purse and as she tried to unlock the door, she was surprised to find it unlocked. She opened the door slowly, certain she locked it on her way out. She looked into the living room cautiously and dropped her purse at what she saw.

There sitting on the couch was none other than the shadow man that changed her world. "Julian?" Jenny spoke the name without realizing it as she took in the sight in front of her. He was sitting with his elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped together. He was in the same outfit he was in the last time Jenny saw him, duster jacket and all. He gave her his signature wolfish grin and Jenny stared non pulsed trying to make sense of what she was seeing. His blue eyes just as brilliant as she remembered, his hair whiter than any humans could be. Julian sat up straight and Jenny saw he was still grinning his dangerous playful grin at her, "You seem surprised to see me." His voice like cool velvet or water running over rock was a shock to Jenny's senses. She realized she was still staring and hadn't said anything since she'd walked through the door. Just as Jenny was about to ask how this was possible, Dee opened the door into Jenny's back.

"Hey I found-" Dee stopped mid-sentence and saw who Jenny was looking at. Dee hesitated only a second before lunging at Julian who moved out of the way gracefully and effortlessly. Dee tripped on the couch Julian was sitting on and landed on the floor. Julian smiled at Dee a beautiful and dangerous smile, "Now Deirdre, we've been over this." Dee got up and walked to the other side of the living room shooting a glare Julian's way, but giving up trying to attack him.

Julian looked over at Dee, "Would you mind giving us some privacy?" Dee looked at Jenny then back to Julian, "Hell yes I mind." Jenny had to force herself to look away from Julian, "Dee, its ok." Jenny said calmly. Dee reluctantly walked through the sliding glass door into the back yard after throwing Julian another glare. Julian looked at Jenny with eyes like blue fire surrounded by heavy black lashes. He had a look of awe as he looked at Jenny, as though he hadn't seen her for months. Jenny turned and shut the door behind her and then walked into the living room where Julian was standing. She left distance between them, not entirely sure what she thought of this situation, and looked up at Julian.

He looked so strange standing in her living room, such a typical place for an anything but typical person to be standing in. "You know you really should lock the front door when you leave the house.. You wouldn't want some random person walking in, would you?" Jenny sat down feeling overwhelmed. She stared at Julian yet again trying to convince herself this was real. "But, I thought you died…" Jenny started not quite knowing how to finish. Julian sat down across from Jenny and gave her a serious look. "I did."

please review!


	7. Chapter 7

**sorry it took me so long to update! i will be able to update more often now that im back from vacation. i had serious problems writing this chapter, julian is so hard for me to write and i am trying hard to keep all the characters personalities the same. please review! also, i own nothing its all lj smiths.**

_...He looked so strange standing in her living room, such a typical place for an anything but typical person to be standing in. "You know you really should lock the front door when you leave the house. You wouldn't want some random person walking in, would you?" Jenny sat down feeling overwhelmed. She stared at Julian yet again trying to convince herself this was real. "But, I thought you died…" Jenny started not quite knowing how to finish. Julian sat down across from Jenny and gave her a serious look. "I did."_

Chapter 7

Jenny waited for Julian to elaborate but he didn't. Julian leaned back in the chair and maintained the serious look he had. Jenny continued, "So if you died how are you here?" Julian simply said, "I don't know." Jenny was taken back at the thought of Julian being brought back into existence without him knowing how it happened. Jenny wasn't sure what to do or say, this whole situation was one she never imagined being in.

"You look beautiful," Julian said regaining his natural look of arrogance and sly smile, "although I am surprised you don't have Tommy here with you." Jenny flinched involuntarily and Julian definitely noticed. "Trouble in paradise?" He asked, electric eyes never leaving her face. "Tom and I…" Jenny didn't know how to finish her sentence but she didn't need to, Julian knew her well enough to guess what had happened between them. "I'm sorry things didn't work out as you planned." Julian said, his expression never changing, Jenny definitely doubted he was the slightest bit sorry. Jenny didn't know what to say to that either so she asked, "Why are you here Julian?" The arrogant look he wore so perfectly changed to that serious look he had moments before making Jenny feel uneasy. "I'm afraid I don't have a good answer to that question." Jenny's feeling of unease grew, Julian always seemed to have answers before, so the thought of him being unsure of his situation made Jenny almost scared. "I remember being carved out of existence and lying in the hallway in your grandfathers house saying goodbye to you, and then I was back." He said simply. Jenny thought about this, "The other shadow men didn't tell you why you were brought back?" Julian's serious look grew darker, "I haven't gone back to the shadow world. I came straight here." Jenny was getting confused, "So how long were you…dead?" She asked not sure of what word to use in place of dead. Julian shrugged and said, "Not long." So many questions were spinning through Jenny's mind she wasn't sure which to ask first.

She hesitantly asked, "What was it like?" Julian leaned back and a small smile touched his lips making him look even more perfect, "It was peaceful. No worry of anything. I had all the time I could ever want to think of you." Jenny was at a complete loss for words now but she felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. She felt a weight lift off her shoulders that was the stress and worry of him being in a better place instead of at the hands of the other shadow men.

Jenny refused to let herself cry and blinked back the tears, there were more important matters at hand. Julian was looking at Jenny as though he was reading her mind. "Do you have any other questions?" He asked her. Jenny picked one of the hundreds of questions spinning through her mind, "Why haven't you gone back to the shadow world? Wouldn't they tell you why you were brought back?" Julian gaze was unwavering, "If I go back and they are unaware that my name was carved back into the rune stave that reopens the claim they have on your life. I came straight here to be sure that you were safe. I wont let them get to you, I will take your place if they try to claim you as their prey." Jenny was trying to make sense of what Julian just said but couldn't help asking another question, "How is it possible that your name could be carved back in without them knowing?" Julian almost laughed, "I don't know Jenny. All I know is I am here again and I wanted to see you, to make sure you are well. I can leave if that's what you would like." Jenny instantly shook her head before she was even aware of what she was doing.

Jenny felt worried for Julian, she almost felt the need to hide him incase the other shadow men were looking for him. "No, Julian. My parents are out of town for a few days so you are welcome to stay until you find out what's going on - as long as you follow some rules." Jenny added the part about rules quickly not wanting Julian to take advantage of the situation. He seemed unthreatening now, but Jenny was well aware of how quickly Julian's moods could change. That did get a laugh out of Julian, "Ah, so now we are playing by your rules?" Jenny instantly had images of Julian thinking up another game. "Rule number one: No games, not now, not ever again." Jenny said sternly. Julian continued smiling but said seriously, "No more games. Done." Jenny nodded and said, "Rule number two: No messing with my friends. Especially Tom." Julian's smile was intoxicating, "Is Tommy going to be around?" Jenny shrugged, "Maybe. Probably. We are all still friends and Audrey is staying with me for a few days so I don't want any problems." Julian nodded his consent.

Jenny continued, "And rule number three: I don't want you watching me without me knowing about it. You about gave me a heart last night." Julian's smile disappeared and the serious look Jenny was learning to fear came back, "What happened last night?" Jenny felt herself adopt a serious look of her own. "That wasn't you watching us?" Julian shook his head looking more serious if it were possible, "This is the first time I've seen you since being back." Another thought came to Jenny's mind. "When I came in the house you said the door was unlocked?" Julian nodded studying Jenny's face as she continued, "I locked it when I left. I know I did." Jenny was instantly worried some one was in the house besides them, but quickly banished the thought. Julian was here and she felt pretty confident he could handle a burglar or pervert.

Another thought came to Jenny's mind as she was letting all Julian's answers sink in, "Since when do you use front doors? And what were you doing between getting back and getting to my house? Can't you just…appear…where you want to?" Julian continued staring at Jenny's face, eyes unwavering, face grim. He sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I'm not a shadow man anymore." Jenny's mind did a nose dive. She really was at a loss for words now. Julian just stared, watching Jenny's expression. _Julian isn't a shadow man. Is he human? What? _She just stared back until her mind caught up with her again, "Are you…human?" Julian's signature look slowly reappeared almost making Jenny's mind stall again. He shrugged and said calmly, "Again, I really don't know." Jenny was just about to comment on this when she heard the sliding glass door to the back yard open.

Dee peeked her head in giving Jenny a look that asked if it was ok to come in. Jenny nodded and Dee came in shutting the door behind her. She turned and instantly glared at Julian, "So what the hell are you doing here?" She demanded. Julian's beautifully terrifying smile made Jenny's heart skip a beat as he was about to answer Dee, Jenny said, "Wait." Julian looked at her smile never fading, she continued, "Everyone else should be here probably any second. We should just wait so we can answer all the questions at once." As if on cue, Jenny heard a car pull into the driveway. _Well isn't that convenient? _Jenny thought. She looked over at Dee who was still glaring at Julian, and Julian who was still smiling somewhat evilly at Dee. "Um, maybe you should wait in my room, Julian. I think if everyone walks in and sees you sitting here this conversation won't get off to a smooth start."

Julian stood gracefully and Jenny couldn't help but be amazed that a human could look like Julian did, or maintain the grace of a shadow man. Jenny got up to walk Julian back, well aware that he probably knew her house just as well as her, and as she passed Dee she heard her mutter something along the lines of how insane this all is. Jenny opened the door to her bedroom and stepped aside so Julian could walk in. He walked into her room, and turned to look back at Jenny, a strange look in his eyes. Almost sad, but not quite, Jenny couldn't place it. "Julian, I'm glad your back." Jenny said without thinking, but it was true. She just wanted that look to go away. Then Julian looked at her like he usually did, that hungry but almost loving look, "I'm glad to be back, Jenny." She was about to tell him to make himself comfortable when she heard the front door open. _Here we go, she thought._


	8. Chapter 8

**thanks for the reviews guys! they really do keep me going! again, some of you might hate this chapter, it was also a little hard to write but it needed to happen. i hope you like it, please keep reviewing. none of it belongs to me, its lj smiths!  
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Chapter 8

Jenny walked out to the living room were her friends were laughing and talking normally, well, all except Dee who was looking rather pissed off. She took a seat next to Dee and tried to quickly decide how to start this conversation. She looked at her friends and hated to ruin their good moods, but she knew she couldn't hide Julian forever. When everyone had quieted down for a moment she spoke up. "Um. I need to talk to you all about something." All eyes turned towards her, laughter and happy moods starting to fade at the sound of hesitation in Jenny's voice. _How do I say this? _Jenny thought to herself.

Zach was staring at Jenny intently as if he had some idea of what she might say. She saw Audrey look from Dee to Jenny and her face turned instantly worried. Michael also began to look stressed out at the feeling of heaviness that had come over the room. Summer was the one who spoke first, "What's wrong Jenny? Does it have something to do with Tom?" Jenny shook her head and cleared her throat. "I am going to tell you all something that will sound crazy, and before you all freak out I need you to let me try to explain." Dee laughed a sharp sounding laugh. Audrey glanced at Dee but nodded and said, "Go ahead." Jenny got up and stood at the entrance to the living room feeling she couldn't sit any longer. "Ok. So when Dee and I came back to the house, the front door was unlocked and there was someone in the living room-" "What?" Michael yelled instantly looking around for the stranger. Audrey shushed him and Michael said, "Right sorry I'll let you finish before freaking out." Jenny nodded and continued. "It was Julian-" "_What_?" This time everyone but Dee had something to say. She should have known they wouldn't be able to contain themselves. She heard questions and comments being yelled in tones of fear and anger: "What does he want?" "I thought he was dead!" "Where is he now?" "I am not playing another game!" and then Michael who simply said, "I'm going home." Jenny yelled, "Hey!" Everyone stopped their ranting but their looks of fear and confusion stayed put.

Jenny took a deep breath and continued yet again. "It's ok. He isn't here to play another game with us. He…" _He what? _Jenny wasn't quite sure how to explain why he was here. "He… he isn't like he used to be. He might not be a shadow man anymore." Jenny stopped waiting for more yelling but it never came, Zach simply asked, "How?" Jenny shrugged and tried to start from the beginning. "He woke up in my grandfathers house after being carved out of the rune stave and came here to see if the shadow men were trying to get to us. But he said he's not a shadow man anymore and he doesn't know how he was brought back, and he cant ask the other shadow men because if they find out he's back that will reopen the claim they have on my life, and well…he's waiting in my bedroom for me to tell you all this."

Jenny waited for the uproar to continue but the only voice she heard was Dee's. "What I want to know is how the hell you think you can trust him? He's lied to us over and over, and tried to hurt us just to get to you, and now he practically has you! Don't you see? This sounds like it was all a set up and it sounds like it's working." Jenny opened her mouth to tell Dee she was wrong when her words sank in. Could it be possible that this whole thing was just a mind game? Him dying, him coming back, someone watching them, and now he was sitting in her bedroom. All these thoughts ran through Jenny's mind, but she shook her head. "But we saw the other shadow men carve his name out and I watched him fade into nothing." Zach quietly said, "It could have all been an illusion. He could make anything seem real." Jenny felt utterly helpless and slightly dizzy. She sat on the floor and focused on her breathing.

Jenny heard Audrey's voice, "Ok guys maybe we should give Jenny some space." Jenny looked up to find Dee stand up and angrily point back towards Jenny's room. "He is just sitting back there probably listening to everything we are saying and you want us to give Jenny space? I'm not going anywhere." Jenny stood up when she felt stable again and looked at Dee. "Dee, its ok. Even if this is all just another game I've dealt with Julian before and I can handle myself. I think I actually need to go talk to him again - alone." Dee started to open her mouth when a teary-eyed Summer interrupted her. "I trust Jenny, Dee. You should too. She would never let anything bad happen to us." Audrey chimed in, "And as weird as it is to say, I don't think Julian would ever let anything bad happen to Jenny." Michael nodded his agreement with Audrey and Zach just looked at them all, but didn't disagree.

Dee hesitantly looked at Jenny and gave her a nod. "Ok sunshine. I trust you but if he starts to act like a psycho shadow man, run." Jenny smiled at Dee. "Oh I will. Thank you for being such a great friend, Dee." She hugged the girl and looked at Audrey. "I totally understand if you don't want to stay over anymore." Jenny expected Audrey to leave with Michael but was surprised when Audrey shook her head and gave Jenny a brilliant white smile. "I would rather stay with you and a shadow man than go back to those awful questions." Audrey said almost laughing, while Michael looked like he might vomit.

Zach who was being rather calm through all this walked over to Jenny, "Jenny, I trust your judgment and if you don't think he will hurt you or want another game I believe you. Just be safe." Jenny smiled at her cousin and gave him a hug, "Thanks Zach." Jenny pulled back and looked at her friends, happy they were willing to trust her with something that sounded so insane. A thought occurred to her. "Uh guys, do you think you could all maybe not tell Tom any of this just yet?" The group exchanged glances but no one objected to the suggestion.

After several minutes of trying to reassure the others that Audrey and Jenny would be safe they bid their friends goodbye. Jenny had to practically push Dee out the door even after Audrey had agreed to call Michael every hour to let him know she was safe who would in turn call Dee if anything was wrong.

Jenny closed and locked the door behind her friends and turned to look at Audrey who broke out into nervous giggles after a second. It was contagious. This whole situation was so insane, so out there, that they had to release some of the stress it had brought on. After Jenny had caught her breath and regained her composure she hugged Audrey who was still slightly laughing. "Thank you for staying with me. I don't know how I would be able to handle this alone." Audrey looked at Jenny still smiling and said, "Of course. I know you wouldn't leave if it were me in your shoes. Now go talk to Julian. I'm going to sit here and pretend to watch TV, because there is no way in hell I could ever really focus on anything right now." Jenny laughed again at her friend truly thankful she was here with her.

Jenny turned to walk to her room, hearing Audrey click on the TV. She tried to mentally prepare herself for what Julian might say about this all being another game. She didn't want to believe it was, but Julian's nature was evil, and she didn't really know how much he had changed. _He had to have heard everything, _Jenny thought reaching for her doorknob.

When she opened her door she found Julian sitting on her bed in the same position she had found him in earlier this evening, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together. He looked up when she walked in, but there was no trace of the beautiful arrogant look he wore so well. Instead he looked serious, almost troubled. Jenny closed the door behind her and turned back to Julian again. He didn't say anything, just stared. Jenny finally broke the silence, "Did you hear all of that?" Jenny asked hesitantly. Julian stood up and took a step towards Jenny, who surprised herself by automatically taking a step back, hitting the door. Julian's expression didn't change but Jenny thought she saw a flash of sadness in his eyes, but it was there and gone so quickly she wasn't sure if it was her imagination.

"I heard." Was all he said. Jenny didn't know what to do, so she just stood there with her back against the door trying to read his expression. Julian sat back down on the edge of her bed. "Jenny, I understand if you can never forgive me for what I've put you through. But I need you to know that I could never hurt you again and I would take back what I've done to you if I could." Jenny believed him. In that moment she knew that this wasn't another game. She knew that he had really given up his life for her in the shadow world and inexplicably he was back now, and she was sure if need be he would give his life up again in a heartbeat if it would save her.

Jenny took a small step forward so she wasn't against the door but not too close to Julian. "I know Julian. I believe you." He gave her a small smile, not a sly smile like Julian so often sported, but a genuine smile. "Julian-" Jenny started, hesitating only for a moment, "thank you. For taking my place." Julian's small smile stayed put, "Of course. I should have known you would try to save your grandfather." Jenny smiled at that, happy her grandfather was finally at peace.

Again, the strangeness of today hit her. Here she was in her bedroom with the once shadow man who had tormented her, and they were just talking. No challenging each other, just normal talking. She looked up at Julian again and he had regained his usual smirk. Jenny narrowed her eyes, "What?" She asked. He leaned back on the bed and asked, "So you would like to keep me a secret from Tommy?" Jenny couldn't help a smile, "Just until things get figured out. Do you have a plan?" She asked, wondering just what Julian was planning on doing about this whole predicament.

"Not quite. I am just enjoying being around you without you trying to run away from me." Jenny smiled at Julian's comment, but asked again, "So you really have no plan?" He maintained his usual look which was so perfect on him, "No. Not yet at least. If there really was someone watching you it won't be long before they see me here, and then all questions should be answered." Jenny nodded worried about the outcome of that plan, but trusting Julian knew what he was doing.

Their eyes met again and Jenny had the feeling that this was right. To be here with Julian without any games or fighting one another. Maybe, just maybe, she would get the chance to see if they could be friends or even more than friends after all.


	9. Chapter 9

I own nothing, its all l.j. smiths!

Chapter 9

That night when Jenny was trying to fall asleep she closed her eyes in her bedroom and opened them somewhere completely different. She looked around trying to get her bearings. She saw bookshelves filled with old tattered books and journals, charms and strange looking symbols, a candle here and there… _Grandpa Evensons basement. _Jenny walked further into the room and was completely shocked at what she saw. Sitting on a shabby but wide sofa was Julian starring into the eyes of a blonde girl who was sitting beside him, starring back. Jenny took a hesitant step closer worried she might interrupt the scene that was unfolding before her. She looked at herself sitting with Julian looking nervous. She allowed the memory to take over was transported back to the time after she'd promised herself to Julian.

_Jenny looked up at him, to find him looking at her. So close. His eyes the color of a May morning. Very deep, but very gentle. She could feel his hunger. And could feel herself trembling slightly. Her nerves jangling with excitement - and fear. But he didn't even touch her, at first. He just looked at her, with an expression she'd never seen on his face before. A look of wonder. The tenderness she'd seen when he'd been impersonating Zach._

"_Are you frightened?" he said._

"_A little_." _She was trying not to show it. She said lightly, "So you're the youngest Shadow Man."_

"No. I'm not a shadow man. I'm your friend, a female friend… Are you even awake?" Jenny's eyes flew open to find a very amused Audrey sitting beside Jenny on her bed. Audrey burst out in laughter at Jenny's horrified expression. She really hoped she hadn't done too much talking in her sleep.

The walls in the Thornton home were no better at soundproofing than mere cardboard and Julian had stayed the night in Joey's room which was right next to Jenny's. She tried to shove the embarrassment she was feeling to the back of her mind and dragged herself out of bed.

"Is Julian up yet?" Jenny asked trying to will the redness out of her cheeks. Audrey, who walked into the bathroom to put on her makeup giggled, "I'm not sure. I thought I heard the TV earlier. Why? Wanting to re-enact some of that hot little dream you were just having?" Jenny just shook her head as Audrey finished applying her makeup and threw her hair up in record time. Jenny pulled out simple jeans and a long sleeve shirt, brushed her hair and put some makeup on. She almost didn't want to leave her bedroom, afraid of the possibility of last night being a dream and it not being a dream at the same time.

Audrey patted Jenny on the back, "Hey, this is why I'm here." Without a second thought, Audrey opened the bedroom door and pulled Jenny out into the hallway where she followed Audrey out to the kitchen. Jenny noticed that coffee was already made with two coffee cups sitting beside the coffee maker. With a steaming cup in her hands she walked into the living room to find Julian lounging on the sofa watching TV.

He looked at her and smiled a brilliant wolfish smile that made Jenny's breath hitch. "It's amazing what people will do to get ahead in this world." Jenny took a seat on the arm of the sofa and looked to see what Julian was watching, only to see the news. Jenny cringed inwardly. She hated the news. Nothing but stories of sadness, wrongdoings, and death. Julian glanced at Jenny and changed the channel. Jenny gave a small smile of thanks and looked to see what Julian changed the channel to. Some old movie Jenny didn't recognize.

Audrey waltzed in and sat across from Jenny and Julian and tried to look normal. Jenny knew the feeling: slight awkwardness. Sitting in the same room with the man who had tortured her and her friends and then ultimately made up for everything by dying to save them. Julian broke the silence. "So what is your plan for the day?" Audrey started laughing, another show of awkwardness and Jenny couldn't hide a slight giggle much to her dismay. Julian looked between the slightly hysterical girls, "What?" He asked. Audrey caught her breath first, "Oh, I don't know Julian, we were planning on going to the mall to avoid makeup homework but I can't quite picture a shadow man or x-shadow man enjoying sipping an Orange Julius and walking around Macy's." Julian shrugged and gave a small smile of his own, his eyes shinning beautifully, "I will admit I've never done that but it doesn't seem all too bad, that is if you two don't mind me tagging along." Jenny made herself stop staring at his gorgeous eyes like a love sick girl, _Because I'm not a lovesick girl… _Jenny thought. "We don't mind, of course your invited Julian." Jenny couldn't help but smile at his expression. _What is that look? Excitement? _Jenny thought. Then Audrey chimed in, "You've never been to a mall?" Julian gave a smile that made Jenny's stomach lurch. "Oh, I've been to malls, but not for reasons you would think." Jenny tried not to think of the possible reasons he'd been in malls and gave up assuming it was to torture some poor people with other games. "Besides, since I can't exactly change my clothes the way I used to, I wouldn't mind picking a few things up." Jenny glanced at Julian and saw him giving her a smile that said he knew she was trying to guess what he had done at a mall.

They finished their coffee, Julian and Audrey making small talk about old movies and fashion of all things and Jenny couldn't hide a smile. It was always hard to imagine Julian, being so exotic and ancient seeming, being knowledgeable about pop culture and other normal things. And on top of that it seemed like Audrey and Julian were getting along. She felt happy. He was back, no more games, just being - normal. They went out to Audrey's car, Julian opening the front passenger door for Jenny before getting in the back. The drive to the mall was short, Jenny's house was only about 15 minutes from the hub of all activities any teen could want. As soon as they walked into a high end store Audrey loaded up her arms and headed to the dressing room with several sales associates trailing.

Jenny was looking at some sparkly top, not really seeing it, when Julian walked up beside her. "It would look amazing on you, although I'm not sure its your taste." Jenny laughed when she looked at the top and realized exactly how bright and revealing it was. She smiled, "I wonder how long it would take to get used to how well you know me." He tucked a loose hair behind her ear before leaning down to whisper in her ear, "Only one way to find out." Jenny froze, trying to not let herself kiss him then and there. He straightened up and walked over to where the men's clothes were and grabbed a few black shirts, _of course, _she thought.

She followed him over and distractedly looked at some jackets next to where he was looking. "So how is it you know so much about fashion and movies and such? I never really pictured you watching E news in your free time." Julian laughed, a beautiful sound, "I don't. Watching you and your friends gave me insight to this kind of stuff. Fashion was never an interest of mine, but I do need to keep with the times. It changes so often and so drastically." Jenny had an image of Julian in a bellbottoms with an afro pop into her mind randomly. Crazy as it sounds, it didn't look too bad. "You know its not really fair." Julian looked at Jenny handing her a long sleeved cream shirt with a golden sheen too it which she instantly loved - her size too. He said, "And what exactly isn't fair? You know my opinion on fairness." She folded the shirt over her arm and continued, "You know everything there is to know about me but I barely know anything about you."

He looked at her then, really looked. He almost looked surprised at her wanting to know more about him. "I will gladly answer any question you have, Jenny." Jenny watched Julian inspect some jackets as if they weren't up to his standards and asked, "Um, well for starters, how old are you?" Julian stopped and turned to Jenny smile never fading, "Jenny, I think we both know you really don't want to know the answer to that question." He was right. Instantly images of old perverted grandpas who hit on teenagers popped into her head despite her trying to stop them. He laughed at Jenny's expression, and Audrey came over with a saleswoman who was struggling to hold all of Audrey's outfits. "Oh Jenny, I love that top! It will look amazing with your skin and hair. Very nice." Jenny smiled, "Actually, Julian picked it out." Audrey said, "Oh." and then gave Julian a look of approval, which was weird to see Audrey, who had been so against Jenny giving into Julian during the games, give Julian a look that was so…friendly.

They went to the register where Audrey paid an obscene amount of money happily. Jenny put her top on the counter and opened her purse to find her wallet, then Julian zipped it back up. He put his clothes on the counter with Jenny's new shirt and pulled several large bills out and gave them too the woman behind the counter. He grabbed both the girls' bags and as they headed to the door, he whispered to Jenny, "I owed you $20."

sorry it took so long! my internet wasnt working but i kept typing so i have a couple chapters for you all! please review, if you hate it tell me. i think i can take it... also, do you get the, i owed you 20, thing? cause she paid $20 for the game? i thought that was great if i can say so.


	10. Chapter 10

read the disclaimers from previous chapters!

Chapter 10

They were sitting in the food court with their Orange Julius' in hand people watching. Well, Audrey was doing more clothes and shoes watching than people watching. Just then something occurred to Jenny. "Julian, where did you get all that money? I'm guessing you didn't have it in your pocket when your name was carved out." Julian just smiled in that sly way he was so famous for, "I didn't. And lets just say I have my ways. I had to get from Pennsylvania to California somehow." Jenny tried not to imagine ways he could have gotten a hold of that kind of cash and took another sip of her drink.

Audrey jumped up, "What time is it? Oh Michael is gonna kill me if I don't call him! I haven't called since this morning - he's gonna think Julian killed us!" Audrey ran, well as close to running as she could do in heels that high, toward the pay phones. Jenny couldn't help a laugh. She looked over at Julian and quickly her laughter died when she saw he had a look of pure hatred on his face.

Jenny was taken back for a second before she looked to see what Julian was looking at - it wasn't a what, but a who. And that who happened to be Tom. He hadn't noticed them, which Jenny was immensely thankful for. She wanted to tell him about Julian in a few days after he had calmed down from their break up, she hadn't planned on running into him at the mall.

Julian radiated anger until Jenny grabbed his hand and pulled him behind a large tree in the middle of the cafeteria. She had Julian's back up against the tree so his back was also facing Tom. When Jenny felt he was hidden, she glanced over Julian's shoulder to get a good look at him. It was Tom, and a few guys from the football team, Brady, John, and Jimmy. Just then a blonde girl Jenny recognized from the cheerleading team came over and handed Tom a soda before giving him a borderline inappropriate kiss.

Jenny felt all the color drain from her face. It had been two days. _Two days!_ _How could he make out like that in public with another girl. A slutty girl too! _Julian who had been watching Jenny turned to see what she was looking at. He turned back to her and simply hugged her. Jenny froze realizing that this was the first time he'd really touched her since being back. Sure he tucked her hair behind her ear, but this was different. It was warm and comforting. She had never been comforted by Julian before, but it was exactly what she needed at that moment. Jenny couldn't help it, she hugged Julian back as tight as she could and let the tears flow freely. She couldn't bottle it up after seeing that.

Julian shushed her and whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry Jenny. I wish you didn't have to see that. He never deserved you in the first place." Jenny almost reflexively opened her mouth to defend Tom like she had with Julian before, but she realized he was completely right. He always had been. She was so blinded by love she didn't notice how short Tom was with her. How he was always glancing at other girls but telling Jenny not to worry because she was prettier. He was a jerk. He said he didn't like showing affection in public and here he was his hand on some girls lower back.

Jenny sniffed and wiped off her face with her hand. Audrey came over and instantly looked worried. "What happened." Julian answered before Jenny could think enough to organize her thoughts. "Oh, just Tom showing the world what a dick he truly is." Audrey looked over where Julian motioned to and without a second thought, marched her high heels right up to Tom and slapped him. Julian just laughed from behind the tree and Jenny just held her breath. "Tom Locke you're a dick head!" She turned with a flip of her hair and marched outside towards the car. After a minute Tom and his little gang turned to walk the other way where Jenny and Julian could make their escape unseen.

After getting in the car Jenny tried to reason with herself. _We are broken up and I'm hiding Julian from him so I shouldn't be mad he was all over another girl… a slutty girl… after two days… _Nope. It still stung that he could be over her that quickly. After all they'd been through Jenny thought it would take more than two days to get over each other. _But I haven't been thinking about him either… _But she'd been busy, she told herself. Julian showed up in her living room as a human, more or less, and with no where to go. _Or maybe we really didn't love each other as much as I thought to begin with._ Jenny sighed and leaned her head against the window. Audrey glanced at Jenny as she drove. "How are you holding up sunshine?" Jenny laughed, "Oh just fine." She said because she didn't know what else to say. She didn't even know herself how well she was holding up. Audrey glanced at Julian in the backseat and then at Jenny again, "You know, if you want to get Tom back you could always prance around in front of him with Julian." Jenny heard Julian laugh but she just shook her head. "No. I don't want to see him for a long time. I don't care if he finds out about Julian but I'm not going to tell him. He obviously doesn't have the courtesy to tell me anything that might be important."

Audrey pulled into the driveway and Julian got out on his way to open Jenny's door with all their shopping bags in hand. Audrey whispered to Jenny, "Do you care if I leave you two alone for a few hours? I need to go see Michael to prove that we are safe, but I wont go if you don't want to be alone with Julian." Jenny shook her head as Julian opened her door, "No Aud its ok. Go have fun, and don't worry about me. I promise I'm good." Jenny tried to give Audrey a reassuring smile that might have looked like a grimace.

Jenny got out of the car smiling her thanks to Julian and the two of them started up the walk to the house as Audrey pulled out of the driveway toward Michaels house. "Jenny." Jenny stopped before opening the door to turn to look at Julian. He was standing right there, so close she could feel his cool breath. She looked up waiting to see if he was going to try to kiss her. He didn't. He took her hand and laced his fingers through hers. Jenny was finding it hard to breathe. His eyes were looking so deeply into her own she felt as though he could see her soul. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything." Jenny squeezed his hand back, "You already told me you were sorry and I forgive you. Its in the past." Julian gave a small smile his eyes searching her face, _for what? _He let go of her hand after a minute of them simply looking at each other. Jenny felt her cheeks turn red involuntary and turned to open the door.

It was unlocked. Again. She knew with 100% certainty that she locked it when they left. Julian understood what was going on and walked into the house first motioning for Jenny to wait outside. She watched him until he turned the corner and then she tried listening to see if he found anyone, or anything. She heard nothing. She kept on waiting. After what felt like ten minutes but was probably more like five Jenny couldn't stand it anymore. Slowly, quietly, she walked into the house and turned toward the living room where Julian had went. She heard a voice before she turned to the living room so she stopped and leaned up against the wall flipping her hair back to listen better.

She heard Julian's water over rock voice and a voice she didn't recognize. It sounded like deep wind chimes, very beautiful and obviously male. She wanted to get a peek but didn't dare risk being seen by whoever this was.

"Your lucky I found you first," the stranger was saying, "If it were the others they wouldn't be so lenient." Julian laughed mockingly, "You think your doing me a favor? Believe it or not, I'm happy here." She heard what must have been the stranger walk slowly across the room closer to Jenny but not close enough to see around the corner she was hiding behind. "I suppose you won't let me take her then?" Julian answered with enough anger to make Jenny tremble. "Never." The stranger leaned up against the wall, Jenny felt the thud his back made he was right in front of her on the opposite side of the wall now. "Oh relax Julian, it was just a question." He seemed to think it was funny, the idea of taking Jenny away from Julian, she thought it was just mean to torture someone that way.

"Look Kale as much as I enjoy your company I would much rather get back to Jenny." It sounded like Julian was walking her way, Jenny was about to sneak back to the door when she heard 'Kale's' voice call out to Julian, "Aren't you in the least bit curious why I decided to come visit?" Julian paused, she could hear, "And why, Kale, would I want to know anything you have to tell me?" Kale laughed a small irritated laugh, "Maybe because it has to do with you and your _Jenny._" Jenny shuddered at the way her name was said with such distaste.

She thought she heard Julian take a few steps back into the living room, closer to Kale. "What are you talking about?" Julian asked, Kale simply said, "I think you know." When Julian didn't say anything Kale continued, "How did you get back Julian?" Julian didn't answer, _he really doesn't know… _Jenny thought, she heard Julian's voice again, "Are you going to get to it or just stand there like an idiot?" Kale laughed and continued, "I didn't know it was possible and obviously you didn't either. The elders have been keeping secrets from us, you see?" Jenny heard, more like felt, Kale push off the wall and walk into the living room. "When you gave Jenny her ring the first time you two were bound to each other. When you freed her of her promise that was simply you being 'nice' not really changing the laws. You told her yourself, there's no way to break the bond, if the promise is sealed with a kiss it becomes irrevocable." She listened, stunned and confused. _So I still belong to Julian? _She listened again when Julian spoke again, "I gave her the ring as I was fading…" Kale continued for him, "And she must have put it on before you completely turned to nothing. So you see the issue here don't you Julian? She holds your life in your hands, quite literally actually." He gave a pleasant little laugh, "The only way to free yourself from her is to kill her. That is the only way your life can belong to you again, don't you miss being a shadow man? After all it gets lonely not having a little brother anymore." Julian started walking again and Jenny made her way to the door quietly as she could. "Oh, Julian! One more thing before I forget, just a minor detail. If she takes the ring off for more than a few minutes or so- I'm not too clear on the timeline, you disappear into nothingness until she puts it on again. God forbid she ever loses it." Julian kept on walking so Jenny rushed to the porch quietly as she could and tried to look bored and normal standing on the porch when Julian approached her.

"So, no intruders? You were in there for a long time." Jenny said casually. Julian just looked at her and laughed. "What?" Jenny demanded. Julian's smile still intact he looked at Jenny, "Are you really trying to make me believe you weren't listening the whole time? Jenny I know you and your curiosity." Jenny tried to act offended but it didn't work she just laughed with Julian. "So," Jenny said, "Should we super glue this thing to my hand now or later?" She asked. Julian just smiled, "No super glue. I trust you with my life Jenny." They walked in the house in a fairly pleasant mood even after another shadow man had been in Jenny's living room. Jenny thought that today was turning out ok despite everything that was thrown at them.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Julian and Jenny sat on the couch next to each other, not too close though. It reminded her of her dream but she didn't dare let Julian know about it. "So Jenny, would you like to play a game?" Jenny looked at Julian shocked, he laughed and then continued, "Like checkers or monopoly?" Jenny smacked his arm and he just laughed more. Jenny shook her head, "No thanks. No offense but I never want to play any kind of game with you ever again." Julian shrugged, "None taken. So what would you like to do? As much as I enjoy just sitting here with you I cant imagine your not starting to get bored." Jenny thought for a second, "Would you want to tell me more about yourself?" Julian nodded and turned himself so he was facing Jenny, she did the same. "Ask away." He said. "First of all, who was that guy you were talking to earlier?" Julian leaned his back against the arm rest, "His name is Kale. He's the second youngest shadow man, well youngest now I suppose. We were made around the same time so the others always referred to us as brothers." Jenny nodded then asked, "Why did he come here? Just to warn you about the ring? And what did he mean about the others not being as lenient with you?" Julian sighed and took Jenny's left hand looking at the ring.

"The others don't know I'm alive and he says he wont tell them but I don't know how long he can keep it to himself. We don't want to find out what will happen if they see me as a human, especially with you. They've wanted to get their hands on you for a long time. A long time ago Kale and I were really like brothers, he's the only shadow man who hasn't turned hideous so we had that in common. He says it was just a friendly visit but he can't be trusted." Jenny nodded and looked down at the hand Julian was holding. He began tracing circles on her palm with his thumb, electricity following in its wake.

"Julian?" He looked at her, so perfect, "Why haven't you tried to… kiss me? I mean not that I'm asking you to or anything, I'm just wondering. Because in the games it seemed like you were always trying to kiss me and since you've been back you really haven't, but I don't mind-" _Oh…_Her ranting was cut short by Julian's lips pressing to hers so sweetly, innocently. Jenny was kissing him back and it felt so good. She forgot. There was no way to remember what its like to kiss someone like Julian. Julian wrapped his arms around Jenny, one hand in her hair. Their kisses grew more passionate, more loving. Jenny never wanted it to end, and it didn't have to. There was no game to be played, no Tom to worry about, there was nothing but Jenny and Julian enjoying each others company as equals. But unfortunately there was a phone. The ring made Jenny jump, completely taken out of the trance. Julian picked the phone out of its cradle and handed it to Jenny who clicked it on.

"Hello," she asked.

"_Jenny, honey its dad. How's everything going?"_

Jenny felt her cheeks burn and got up from the couch needing to be turned away from Julian. It was just her luck that she'd have to talk to her parents after a make out session like that one.

"Everything's great dad. How's Lisa? And mom?"

"_Lisa is in the same condition but your mother is getting better and coming to terms. We will be home tomorrow night, so if anything is broken try to fix it so your mother doesn't notice right away."_

Jenny froze, _tomorrow night? What about Julian? _"Ok dad, I love you, travel safe."

"_We love you too dear, see you soon."_

Jenny hung up the phone and turned to Julian who was standing right behind her. When she turned he kissed her cheek, very sweetly. "To answer your question about not trying to kiss you, I decided to try to take things slower this time. And maybe after you had warmed up to me a little I would take your advice and just ask you." Jenny was stunned. How could he be so perfect? Loving, protective but in a good way, sweet, considerate… True he had some anger issues but that was in his nature right? Jenny was confused. She spent so long fighting Julian that even though she wanted to just give in she had a hard time picturing herself doing it. But that had to wait because now they had a problem.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jenny was about to explain that her parents were coming home tomorrow night, a day earlier than they had planned and there was no way they would let Julian stay with them, when Audrey pulled in the driveway. The front door opened to reveal not just Audrey, but Michael and Dee as well. Jenny smiled and said hi, but no one but Audrey returned the gesture as they looked at Julian sitting in the living room by Jenny. They filed in and sat down, Audrey sitting in the chair closest to Julian, the others kept their distance.

Dee spoke first, "So I see you managed not to kill anyone." Julian just smiled politely, "Ah Dee, I see its going to take the longest for you to warm up to me." Dee just snorted. Michael didn't say anything but it was obvious he was uncomfortable with Julian hanging around. Jenny decided to tell the others about her parents to see if they had any ideas on where Julian could go. "Hey guys, my parents are coming back tomorrow night. I don't know where Julian can stay." Julian looked at Jenny, then pulled the rest of the money he had out of his pocket. "I have $500 left over, I can stay at a motel for a while." Jenny nodded, that sounded good, but what about when the money ran out? She could not picture Julian getting a job.

Michael surprised Jenny by what he said next, "My dad is going out of town next week for some authors convention in New York. You could… stay with me then - if you want." He said this awkwardly and slowly, as if not sure he was making a good decision. Julian looked a little surprised, but quickly masked it. "Thank you Michael, that would be alright." Jenny smiled. _This is good, maybe they are starting to come around to the idea of Julian being friends with us. Because he is a friend. After everything I could never just let him fend for himself, just because he's watched humans for thousands of years doesn't mean he knows how to be apart of our world- _"Earth to Jenny?" She realized Dee was talking to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Sorry. What?" Dee continued, "We have school in two days. Are we just supposed to go to school and pretend like everything is normal?" Jenny took a second to think, then replied, "Yes. Julian is human now and doesn't know anyone else. I think he's going to be around for a while and I consider him a friend so we might as well get comfortable with the idea of him hanging out with us, and get back into our old routines." Michael started to say, "Not all our old routines-Ow!" When Audrey threw her purse at him. If she were any closer she probably would have kicked him, but it didn't matter. Jenny knew he was thinking of Jenny and Tom.

She hadn't thought about the incident at the mall since being home and it was nice to forget. She forgot about Tom completely around Julian and honestly it was kind of nice. She didn't have to worry about what she was wearing, or how she was doing her hair, or saying something he might think was stupid. It made her feel free to be around Julian. Julian was looking at Jenny and said, "Thank you. For keeping me around after everything I've put you through. I consider us friends if nothing else as well." Jenny smiled, happy that he felt the same. Dee laughed, "That seems a little out of character for Julian, 'The Big Bad Shadow Man' to say." Julian looked at Dee in a way that fit his 'character' perfectly. She didn't back down but obviously didn't enjoy being stared at like that. Dee shrugged after a minute then turned back to Jenny, "So, um, Sunshine? When are you planning on telling Tom about Julian? I don't want to bring up a sore subject but I don't know how much longer Mikey here can keep it in." Michael just nodded not bothering to deny the secret was dying to tell its self to Tom.

Audrey gave Jenny a look that said she didn't tell them about the mall and she was thankful. She had already felt sorry for herself being replaced so quickly and didn't want the others feeling sorry for her too. _Plus wasn't I just making out with Julian 20 minutes ago? _Jenny shrugged. "Mike you can tell him if its eating you up, but tell him I don't want him coming over here to yell at Julian after he finds out." Michael looked relieved, he was never one for keeping secrets. "Oh hey," Dee started, "have any of you guys had that watched feeling lately?" Jenny realized she hadn't. Maybe it was just Julian's 'brother' Kale, looking for Julian. She shook her head along with Audrey, but Michael nodded and Dee had a look that it continued with her as well. Julian looked like he was thinking and Jenny asked, "Do you think it's Kale?" He shook his head, "I don't think he would stick around. He's more hand on than watch and see." He said a little grimly.

"Ok, wait. Who's Kale?" Jenny forgot she didn't tell the others about the ring, she looked at Julian questioning whether it was ok to tell them or not, but he gave her a look that said you don't have to ask for my permission. _Old habits die hard I guess, _she thought remembering how she acted with Tom. Jenny told them everything. When she was finished Audrey spoke Jenny's previous thoughts, "Did you super glue it?" Jenny laughed, "No, Julian said its not necessary." Dee pulled her legs up so she was sitting criss cross on the couch and said, "It's kind of like your hanging on by a thread. If the ring is all that's keeping you here, I mean." Julian nodded, "Its not all bad. I trust Jenny." Michael who was thinking, spoke up. "So if Jenny dies you'll be a shadow man again? How does that work?" Julian shook his head, "Honestly, I'm not sure. It looks like the elder shadow men didn't tell Kale and I everything. I should have expected it from the bastards." Julian said a little darkly.

Jenny didn't like the idea of being responsible for Julian's life but if it was the only way to keep him alive she'd gladly take the burden. After all he died for her without a second thought. But the idea of her dying for him to become a shadow man again wasn't comforting. She had a bad feeling when she thought of Kale talking about that, _but who has a good feeling when someone else wants them dead? _Jenny banished the thought from her mind. Dee stood up, "Ok guys. This has been fun but I am off to practice and then I have pounds of homework to do before Monday." Jenny cringed, she hadn't touched her homework, but 'pounds' would be the way to describe it. Michael and Audrey groaned.

She said good bye to Dee and grabbed her backpack before returning to the living room. Audrey handed Julian a phone book and Jenny was again glad that at least she was comfortable with Julian. Julian seemed to grow a little fonder of Audrey after she slapped Tom, but that was something she wasn't going to dwell on. Audrey left to drive Michael home and Julian called and made a reservation for tomorrow and the rest of the week at a tiny motel on the outskirts of town. Jenny had once described it as the kind of place drug deals and murders happen in, but that didn't seem to bother Julian. Plus the cheaper it was, the longer the money would last.

All in all it was a long day. Jenny had trouble even trying to read what her assignments were, so she gave up trying to focus. Julian came in the kitchen where Jenny was sitting and sat down at the table across from her. She asked, "So what will you do now? Your free of the shadow world. You could have a normal life." Julian smiled a wickedly dangerous smile. "Normal is in the eye of the beholder." Jenny knew what he meant. She couldn't picture him working anywhere, taking orders from a boss or wearing any kind of uniform. She could picture him being a part of the mafia or underground gambling, but she wasn't going to give him any ideas. Then she had an idea that wasn't illegal, "Julian, you should come to school with us." He gave her a look that she'd never seen on Julian, but frequently saw Audrey sport. A look that asked if she were crazy. She tried to look offended but ended up laughing, so she threw her pencil at him. "No, just think about it. You don't have any papers or documents so you should at least get a diploma. I mean if you were planning on living here normally." Julian nodded thinking about this, "I can get the papers I need, a birth certificate, drivers license, all that from someone for the right cost. But I'll go to school with you anyway. I don't like the idea of you not being protected if there is still something watching your friends." Jenny hadn't given much thought to the others being watched, it sort of just slipped her mind.

But now that Julian brought it up it troubled her. "Who do you think it is?" Julian had a dark expression, an almost angry look that made Jenny feel fear for whatever he was thinking of. "I don't believe its Kale, and if its not we have bigger problems than where I'm going to stay." Jenny shivered involuntarily. She could live a thousand years and never want to see the other shadow men again.

Audrey came home and they tried in vain to do some homework. They ended up on the couch in front of the TV watching the Labyrinth, which Julian thought was the funniest movie ever made. Jenny had seen the movie plenty of times before but never made the connection to Julian until now. A labyrinth with a time limit, the stakes, the love story. Jenny didn't find it very funny. After the popcorn was gone and the credits scrolled down the screen Audrey went back to go to bed. Jenny put their dishes in the sink and was about to make her way back when Julian grabbed her wrist gently. He reeled her into a hug and Jenny let him.

_Taking it slow… _Jenny thought. His plan just might work. He had never just talked to her before, just watched movies, and shopped, and been there for her. Well he had always been there, but she'd never known it so it hardly counted. But he was here now, and as always looking out for her. He made her feel safe which was weird because that's how she felt with Tom before. One of the reasons she loved him. But now there was no going back to Tom. She was different and there was no taking back the image of him and that girl. She wasn't sad or hurt anymore. She felt loved and cared for.

Julian pulled back to kiss her and it was perfect. So warm, a little demanding but in a good way. She was kissing him back instantly. He pulled back and gave Jenny a wolfish smile before kissing her cheek and whispering good night in her ear. He was still dangerous, she thought. But there was a difference in sensing that danger now than how it was before. Before she thought he was dangerous to everyone and everything, but now she knew he could never be dangerous to her and her friends and that is what counts. Jenny got ready for bed and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

i will update soon! hopefully tomorrow or the next day. again please review!


	13. Chapter 13

I own nothing!

Chapter 13

That night Jenny's sleep was filled with nightmares. At one point she was running away from a terrible demon. It was huge, about twice the size of Jenny with sharp horns and a snarling face. After that she was lost in some tunnel under ground where it was hard to breathe and dark, getting darker by the moment. Then she was in a corn field and could hear footsteps all around her, rushing up to her as if to attack her but all she could see were shadows when she looked for the source. Bugs crawling on her, dead bodies, the entire time a feeling as if she had to be somewhere incredibly important but could never get there. And before she woke up she heard a voice laughing at her. It sounded like deep wind chimes. Jenny woke with a start, hair matted with sweat. She looked at the clock and saw it was almost 5 am. She glanced at Audrey and saw tear streaks down her cheeks, like she was crying in her sleep.

"Audrey," Jenny said gently shaking her shoulder, "Audrey, wake up." Audrey jumped and sat up. She looked around and then looked at Jenny and let out a sigh of relief grabbing her chest. "That was terrible!" Audrey almost yelled. Jenny nodded, "I had nightmares too. Horrible twisted ones. I have no idea where those came from." The girls just sat for a moment, stunned by the horrible visions that were still floating around in their heads. Jenny got out of bed, still tired but not willing to chance going back to those nightmares.

She got dressed and threw her hair up, not wanting to deal with it. Audrey did the same. They went out to the kitchen where Jenny got coffee ready and Audrey just sat at the counter, lost in thought. They both jumped when the phone rang, which was becoming a trend Jenny thought. She answered it before the second ring, not wanting it to wake Julian who was still in Joey's room.

"Hello?"

"Jenny it's Michael, is everything ok?"

"Yes, everything's fine. Why are you calling so early, are you ok?"

"I just wanted to check on you. No reason." He said hesitantly.

"Did you have nightmares last night?"

"… Yeah. Bad ones. One was that Julian ate you guys and Audrey was screaming for me and I couldn't get to her." His voice was shaky as he described the awful images.

"Oh Mike, that's horrible. We had nightmares too, really bad ones. But we're fine. Do you want to talk to Audrey?"

"Yes please. Thanks Jenny."

She handed the phone to Audrey who looked worried at Jenny's mention of more nightmares. She took the phone and walked to the table. She could hear Audrey describing a nightmare where her parents and friends were tortured horribly before Audrey was forced to kill them. Jenny shook her head, horrified. What was happening to them? There was no way this was just a coincidence.

"Oh, hey Michael I have to go, Jenny's getting another call. I love you, I'll see you later."

Audrey handed the phone to Jenny and she hit the flash button answering the other call.

"Hello?"

"Oh. Jenny. Thank God." It was Zach. _Not him too, _Jenny thought at the sound of his voice.

''Hey Zach. We're fine. I'm guessing you had nightmares?"

"Yes, more like night terrors. How did you know?"

"Audrey and I had them too, and Michael called right before you saying the same thing."

"Ok, there's no way this isn't on purpose."

"Yeah, I think this has something to do with the shadow men. Do you want to meet later? We can try to come up with a plan or something?"

"Sure. Ill call the others. You guys just be careful. Don't go anywhere near elevators ok?"

Jenny didn't even want to know what happened to them in an elevator, she didn't want to hear anymore about these dreams. "Ok Zach, I'll see you later." If it weren't for their situation, she would have been happy Zach offered to call the others. He was beginning to become more social.

Jenny hung up the phone and got some coffee. She felt nauseous at the memory of her dreams. And then there was that voice, it sounded like Kale. Jenny began to ponder this when that sensation came back, worse than it ever had before. The feeling of not being alone, being watched. It was so strong Jenny almost thought Julian was standing behind her. Audrey obviously felt the same, she froze with the coffee cup halfway to her lips. They exchanged a glance and went back toward Jenny's room. Audrey threw her things in her duffle bag and Jenny grabbed her purse. She didn't know where they were going but it was obvious neither of them wanted to be there. She walked out of her room and knocked on Joey's door to wake Julian.

A second later he opened it, looking pretty amazing for someone who just woke up. "Well good morn-what's wrong." She must have looked worried. "We are getting out of this house. Now." Julian didn't ask why, the fear and urgency in her voice must have conveyed everything. Jenny just knew the longer they stayed the more likely something awful was going to happen. He grabbed his duster jacket and shoes and threw them on over his completely unwrinkled new white tee shirt and black pants.

The three made their way to the front door Audrey practically ran out to her car, Jenny was almost out the front door when she noticed Julian stopped behind her. She turned to see what he was waiting for and saw that he was looking into the living room, as if he were looking for something. After a second he started walking grabbing Jenny's hand on the way out. They both got in the back seat and Audrey pulled out almost before Jenny could close the door.

"Ok what the hell was that? I seriously felt like I was gonna be murdered." Audrey said driving a little too fast for Jenny's comfort. She looked at Julian, hoping he would have an answer, but if he did he didn't say. He was just looking out the windshield deep in thought. The further they got from the house, the feeling lessened. They went to a coffee shop seeing that was pretty much one of the only places open that early and Audrey got them all very large lattes.

"I'm going to call the others and let them know what's going on." Audrey said walking over to the pay phone by the door. Jenny sighed and realized her hands were shaking. This was too much too fast. She had never had a feeling like that before an it was so strong she still felt queasy. Jenny took a drink of her coffee trying to will the nausea away. "Are you alright?" Julian asked completely serious. Jenny nodded shakily not knowing if she really was. "Did you feel that?" She asked Julian. He shook his head no, "What exactly happened?" He asked, no trace of the wolfish grin he wore so well.

Jenny told him about the nightmares, the voice, the phone calls, and that feeling of dread. "It's the shadow men isn't it? It's never going to be over. They can never just leave us alone." She felt herself staring to get hysterical. Julian took her hand from across the table, "It will be over. If I can promise you anything, I promise I wont let them get you Jenny." He looked completely serious and his words helped slow down the hysterics that were making their way to the surface. Audrey came back and said everyone should be there in about half an hour.

"Do you think its Kale?" Jenny asked Julian, "I know that was his voice in my dream." Julian had said before he wasn't the watch and see type, he said he was more hands on and this was definitely more hands on. It looked like Julian was beginning to think so too. He looked like he was planning something bad and said, "There's only one way to find out."

please please please review!


	14. Chapter 14

I own nothing!

sorry its short...

Chapter 14

After Dee, Michael, Summer and Zach showed up they began comparing nightmares. Julian looked like he was deep in thought the whole time. Summer still cried every few minutes, not being able to take the memory of her nightmare where of her little brother Cam died out of her mind. No one wanted to go back to sleep tonight and Jenny definitely didn't want to go home. Maybe she could convince her parents to allow her to stay with Dee.

"Julian's games were bad, really scary," Summer was saying, "But this was different." Jenny knew what she meant, this was more intense. Audrey was talking to Michael about having a movie night and Jenny was about to saw she thought it sounded good but before she opened her mouth, she heard the front door to the coffee shop open and looked up to find Tom walking towards the group. He gave Jenny a look of indifference, and then froze mid stride. He was looking at Julian.

Jenny looked at Michael who also froze along with everyone else. "Oh I didn't have a chance to talk to Tom…" Michael was saying. Tom started walking again slowly looking at everyone. He stopped just short of their table and glared at Julian. Julian had a similar look on his face although it was a little more intimidating than Tom's.

"So what is this all about?" Tom asked everyone. "You didn't feel the need to let me in on something like this?" They all looked guilty, well except Julian. Jenny spoke up, it was her idea to not tell Tom right away, she would take the heat. "Tom. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. Julian sort of just showed up at my house two days ago-" Tom smacked his hands down on the table making a bunch of them jump, he leaned across the table in Julian's direction, but Julian looked bored with Tom. "You asshole you couldn't just leave us alone? Are you causing the nightmares? You just couldn't let me and Jenny be happy could you?" Jenny shook her head at Tom afraid of the amount of violence and anger that was rolling off him. Julian was about to say something but Jenny cut him off, they didn't need him riling Tom when he was already this mad. "Tom, we are not together anymore. Believe it or not but Julian isn't here to play another game or mess with us, he's helping us. The nightmares aren't from him-" "You know what?" Tom was saying, "Have a great life with Jenny," he said to Julian quite sarcastically, "She deserves someone like you." And with that Tom turned and walked right back out the door.

Summer began crying again, Dee put her arms around her shoulders. "This is getting out of hand," Dee was saying, "Julian in your games we were on your timeline, we had to wait for you to tell us what was going on. Is there any way we can find out now? This is breaking us down after one night." Julian looked at Dee for a moment, then said, "That's the point. To break you down, make you feel crazy before anything really begins. But I have an idea. Jenny I'm going to go back to your house if that's alright with you." Jenny nodded, "Audrey do you want to give us a ride?" Audrey was about to answer, but Julian shook his head no, "No. I don't want you anywhere near there until I come back." Jenny wasn't sure weather or not she should argue seeing as she didn't want to go back, but she didn't want Julian to face whatever he was talking about alone. He was human now, after all.

Dee spoke up, "Um Julian, no offense but your human now. And we are sort of notorious for having the best odds when we stick together. I'm going." "Me too," Audrey said, "I left my favorite heels there." Michael nodded his agreement. Zach and Summer were whispering. "We'll go too." Zach said putting his arm around Summer. Jenny looked at Julian, "Well what do you say? Can we come?" Julian took a deep breath. "Like Dee so nicely reminded everyone, I'm human now. So I can't protect you anymore, any of you. If you are willing to face that I won't stop you." Everyone silently agreed that they would stay together.

They paid their bill and made their way to their cars. When they got to Jenny's house they made their way to the front porch, Julian leading the way. He opened the door and let them file in ahead of him. Jenny was about to walk past Julian when he stopped her. "Jenny, it might get ugly in there. If it does I want you to run, fast and far, it doesn't matter where to, just get away." Jenny nodded, suddenly a lot more unsure of their decision to come along. He pulled he out of her thoughts and into a kiss. It was almost like that time in the cave where Jenny could feel his emotions. Jenny kissed him back suddenly worried this might be the last time she would have the chance. She wasn't ready for it to end, but Julian reluctantly pulled back anyway. "Just remember, I love you Jenny." He said before turning and walking inside.

sorry it took so long... i dont really have an excuse other than laziness! so i have the next chapter mostly written and yes there is some action in it. but sadly i dont have too many reviews so i dont know if its worth it to continue... i love the reviewers i have, you guys are awesome and make me smile! so thank you guys for reviewing! lets say i have to get 5 reviews to continue with the story, so if its worth it please please review (even if you dont like it, just let me know!)


	15. Chapter 15

I own nothing. read previous disclaimers!

Chapter 15

They gathered in the living room, while Julian went over to her mothers antique collection she had in an armoire in the formal dining room. Julian came back with a yellow leather pouch that Jenny knew contained a very dark stone that her mother thought was beautiful. She had bought in at an expensive antique store in Laguna, not knowing anything about it other than it looked pretty.

Julian took the stone out of the pouch and set it on the living room coffee table. "Jenny, do you think your mother will notice if this goes missing?" Jenny shook her head no, "As long as I put some other rock in there she wont even know its gone. She always leaves it in that little bag. What are you going to do with it?" Julian said, "It's a night stone. See how it's so black it almost seems to absorb the light around it? Well if we carve certain runes on here, we can summon a shadow man." Jenny heard a few gasps from what sounded like Audrey and Michael. Jenny thought it seemed too easy.

Summer spoke up from the corner of the living room, "Um Julian? How did you know Jenny's mom had that night stone thing?" Julian shrugged, "I told you I watched. I was a shadow man, that's what I did. I was concerned at first - when I saw your mother bought the stone, what with its power and all, but I watched to make sure no one messed with it. Not many people know what it can do." Jenny felt odd, knowing that she had a stone that could summon the very thing she was trying to avoid her whole life, sitting in her dinning room.

Julian got one of her fathers hunting knives that was incredibly sharp and sturdy looking. He carved a few runes on the small stone, but didn't offer an explanation of what they were to anyone. Jenny thought about asking but then decided she didn't really want to know. Without hesitation he sliced open the meaty part of his palm and held the rock in his bleeding hand. He whispered a few rune names, she caught uruz, teiwaz, and pertho among some others she didn't recognize. He set the stone back down on the coffee table and then just stood there.

All eyes were on him but he didn't look away from the stone. Jenny stared at the stone looking for a sign what Julian did was working, but there was nothing. For a second Jenny thought it didn't work, but then she thought it looked a little lighter. Before the stone was black, blacker than night, but now it looked like it almost had a blue tint to the darkness of it. Then, right as Jenny thought this, the stone light up to a blinding white. It was so bright she had to look away, and when she did she had that white dot still dancing in her vision. She heard Summer give a little yelp and looked over at her to see her squeezing her eyes shut.

Then, just as quickly as it began, it stopped. Jenny blinked and looked down where the stone was previously and saw it was gone. In its place a small pile of what looked like dust or ash. She looked up at Julian who was already looking at Jenny. Dee stepped up to get a better look at the debris on the coffee table and spoke to Julian, "How long is it supposed to take before a shadow man shows up?"

"I think now is a good time to make my entrance." Jenny spun around to find the source of the voice, only to find it came from a shadow man who was standing right behind her. Jenny felt a hand on her arm and was pulled back behind Julian who had stepped in front of her. Jenny stepped a little to the left so she could get a look at this man. She froze.

He was beautiful, or at least he could have been. He had all the right physical features to make him look perfect just as Julian did, however he gave off the feeling of complete darkness. It almost made Jenny's stomach flip. He had black hair, darker than ravens feathers. His eyes were a bright grey, that almost had a reflective quality about them, they actually looked more silver than grey, Jenny decided. He wore black head to toe, as Julian often had, and had a tanned complexion which Jenny didn't expect to see on a shadow man. As a whole he was gorgeous, but his aura gave off a feeling of death, and his eyes looked incredibly cruel. Jenny decided at that moment that Julian could argue all he wanted with Jenny, she would never believe he was truly evil - this man was.

"Kale." Julian spoke from in front of her. Kale smiled at Julian, and Kale looked genuinely happy to see him, but the sick feeling in Jenny's stomach didn't go away. This was someone evil, and dark, and Jenny realized she felt more afraid of this single shadow man than she was of all the older, deformed shadow men put together. She took a step closer to Julian, and almost wanted to hide behind him, but her pride wouldn't let her. Julian reached behind him and took her hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"Julian. Can I help you with something? I was in the middle of something when you summoned me here." Julian didn't let go of Jenny's hand but didn't look away from Kale. "I know it was you Kale. What do you want?" Julian said icily. Kale laughed, but it was void of all humor. "Ah Julian. You think I did something to you?" Julian took a step up to Kale, they were pretty evenly matched in height, Kale being maybe only half an inch taller than Julian. While Julian had a lean muscular body, Kale was bulkier, his muscles more defined.

"What do you want Kale?" Julian almost growled at Kale. Kale sat down on a chair behind him in the corner and made himself comfortable, and then he froze. Jenny froze too realizing he was staring - no glaring at her. Then he regained his composure and smiled at her, _Oh my god I'm gonna be sick… _Jenny thought. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Jenny Thornton and her group of friends. You know you are notorious in the shadow world - beating three games and escaping the clutches of the shadow men twice, that's pretty impressive." He had a look like he was contemplating something on his face, then the smile returned and he stood up.

Jenny had to speak up, they weren't getting anywhere like this. Julian brought him here for answers and Jenny wanted to get them. "Were you the one who was watching us?" She asked. Kale's expression never changed, a fake smile plastered on his face, "Honestly Jenny, I was going to drag this out a little longer. I didn't think my brother here would summon me, but since you are all here we might as well start now." Jenny's feeling of dread returned. She heard a whimper from the corner and turned to see Summer crying in Zach's shoulder. He had a blank look in his eyes as he rubbed Summer's back. Audrey and Michael were holding hands and looked like they were frightened, but could face anything together. Dee looked fierce and ready to attack Kale if he gave her reason. Jenny had forgotten about them since Kale showed up, but it was kind of impossible to focus on anything when it feels like your looking death in the face.

"You are not starting anything. You can leave everyone in this room alone from this moment on."

Julian said in warning, but Kale looked bored with him. "Oh, brother. I hate that you are involved in this now, but I'm bored. The elders have grown old with the times, they can't seem to keep up anymore. It's pretty pathetic." He leaned against the wall as if all of them were having a casual conversation. "I'm not asking you again Kale. Tell me what the hell you want!" Julian yelled at Kale and Jenny almost let go of his hand from the fear the tone of his voice instilled in her. Jenny was glad at the moment she was behind Julian so she couldn't see the look in his eyes.

Kale sighed and shook his head, but said, "Julian what I want is you to become a shadow man again-" Julian interrupted, "No." But Kale continued, "But I know you wont do that willingly. This is all terribly ironic, you know. So it's simple. We play a game-" Julian interrupted by grabbing Kale's shirt collar and slamming him against the wall, "No!" Julian yelled at Kale. Kale sighed, but didn't try to struggle against Julian's hold. He said, "I would forget too, you know. Being a shadow man for thousands of years and then one day, you wake up mysteriously human…" Julian reluctantly let go and took a step back from Kale so he was standing beside Jenny.

She could see the intense murderous look in Julian's eyes. Kale fixed his shirt collar and cleared his throat, and then continued, "As I was saying. We will play a game. I win, Julian will come back to the shadow world, as my brother again. As a shadow man, what he should rightfully be," Kale turned his gaze to Jenny, "You know what that means?" _My death…_ Jenny thought. Dee spoke up, "What if we just refuse to play this game?" Kale laughed and looked at Julian while answering Dee. "I will inform the elders of your little situation. So you see, you could play a game with me and have a chance at saving all your lives, or you could take your chances with the old wraiths who will just want what is rightfully theirs. Which is Jenny or Julian. You are not both supposed to be alive." Jenny understood all too well what Kale was saying and she felt completely backed into a corner, the same way she felt before when Julian would bring up a new game.

She looked at Julian again and felt hopeless at his expression. He looked beat already. Jenny spoke the words before she truly understood what she was doing. "We'll play." All eyes snapped to Jenny but no one argued. Julian looked at Jenny, searching her face, trying to make sure she knew what she was saying. She did. She wouldn't just roll over and play dead so Kale could have a play mate again. She wouldn't let Kale be a tattle tale to the other shadow men and have to either lose Julian again or possibly her own life. This was their way out, their only chance to survive, and they had to take it.

Julian nodded and looked back to Kale. "We'll play. But when we win, everyone in this room is off limits to the entire shadow world." Kale laughed, the cold empty sound echoing off Jenny's living room walls, "Deal."

Ok guys, sorry about the wait! I know I always say I'll try to update soon but it takes a few days anyways so I just wont say that anymore lol. Sorry not really any action here, I went a different way with it. It was super hard to write, so if you dont like this one I get it! Again please review to let me know your still reading. If I dont get that many I dont know if I should continue. Thank you for reviewing last time-it was so nice! I love it so please keep it up!


	16. Chapter 16

I own nothing!

(Its pretty long!)

Chapter 16

"Of course that means all of the original players." Kale said still looking all too comfortable in Jenny's living room. Jenny turned to look at her friends, they looked scared but confident at the same time. They had all been through this before and had an idea of what to expect. Jenny realized she was hoping for Kale to just let Jenny and Julian play with him, but it was now obvious he had expected otherwise. Julian turned to look at them too. None of them spoke for a moment which felt like it lasted forever.

Dee finally spoke first, "I'm in." She said with a wicked smile. Audrey and Michael nodded their agreement before Zach also said, "We're in too," speaking for himself and Summer who nodded with tears still in her eyes. Kale clapped his hands together looking all too pleased with himself. Then he looked around the living room and said, "I believe we are one player short." Jenny's mind stalled. _Tom. _There was no way he would be willing to play another game, especially if it benefited Julian in anyway. She silently hoped he would agree to play because this wasn't just for Julian, it was for her too. Her death was what Kale ultimately wanted. To free Julian from the ring that bound him to her, where only in her death he could resume being a shadow man again. It still didn't make sense to Jenny, it seemed confusing and like there were loopholes and untied ends with the ring bringing him back, but she couldn't dwell on that now.

She mustered up enough confidence to look at Kale and prayed her voice didn't show her fear, "What if he refuses to play?" She asked, proud her voice didn't betray her. Kale shrugged and said, "It really doesn't matter. Majority rules. You all play, he has to too." Jenny felt sick again. She was hurt by Tom, but she wouldn't wish this on her worst enemy. The others seemed to mirror how Jenny felt but there was no turning back now.

Kale took a step closer to them and said, "Alright. Let the games begin! I'll be seeing you in your dreams." And with that he was gone. The weird disappearing act had gotten on Jenny's nerves after the first few times Jenny saw Julian do it, but with Kale, she was just relieved he was gone. She felt like she could breathe again. She flopped herself down on an a chair in the corner before remembering that's where Kale had sat. She quickly got back up and sat on the step that was at the entrance to the living room.

Julian wiped the ash off the coffee table and into his hand before putting it in the garbage. Jenny nodded her thanks to him. _Wouldn't want to try to explain that when my parents get home… Damn… _"Uh guys., my parents are going to be home soon." She had forgot about that after this morning when it felt like her house was full of evil. Jenny instantly began worrying about whether or not they should spend the night together. Apparently Julian's mind was going where Jenny's was. "Is there any way your parents would let you all stay at the motel room I reserved for the night?" There were a few sighs and Zach said, "No way my dad will let me. But you guys should if you can. Power in numbers right?" Julian shrugged and had regained his usual arrogant smirk, "It really doesn't matter. It sounds like this is going to be a game played in our sleep. It would just be more convenient to be in one place to strategize." Michael stood up and paced, he had a frantic look in his eyes.

Jenny was about to ask what was wrong when she realized what he was probably thinking. _Freddie Krueger…. _"Michael what is wrong with you?" Audrey asked pulling him to sit back down next to her. He shook his head and said, "So this is like Nightmare on Elm Street style? No way. That dude scared the crap out of me!" Audrey grabbed his face and planted a kiss square on his lips. When she pulled back, Michael looked much calmer, but he still wrinkled his eye brows together every once and a while.

"It makes sense," Dee was saying, "He started messing with us in our sleep last night." Summer nodded and said, "Do you think someone should call Tom?" Everyone looked to Jenny for an answer. She got up and grabbed the phone. She hesitated only a second before punching in Tom's number. With each shrill ring of the phone Jenny's heartbeat quickened. _How am I going to say-_

"Hello?"

"Oh, uh, Mrs. Locke. Hello, is Tom home?"

"Oh Jenny dear! Its so nice to hear from you. Tom is just up in his room, let me grab him for you honey."

"Thank you."

Jenny heard Mrs. Locke knock on Tom's door and say he had a phone call. She was instantly thankful Tom's mom didn't say it was Jenny on the phone. Jenny didn't think he would take the call if she had.

"Hello?" He sounded grumpy, or tired. Maybe both, Jenny decided.

"Hi Tom."

"Jenny. What do you want? Have another lie to tell me about not loving Julian or something like that?"

_At least he didn't hang up._

"Tom, we need to talk. There's another shadow man and we have to play another game…" She didn't quite know how to tell him delicately, so she used the band aid mentality of just do it quick.

"Uh-huh… And why should I believe anything you say to me?"

"Why would I lie about that Tom? Can you please just come over. I think its starting tonight-maybe in our dreams. If you come over I promise I will explain everything I know-" _Click._

"Tom?" Jenny asked, but received nothing but silence in response. She looked at the phone a moment before clicking it off, as if it had some answer for her. She put the phone back on its base and looked to the others. "At least he will know what's happening if crazy shit starts going down." Dee said. Julian was looking at Jenny with an odd expression. _Sorrow? Confusion? What is that look? _But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. He looked at her with his usual little smirk and then turned to the others.

"You should all call your parents and see if they will let you catch up on homework as a group tonight. You can say you all ended up falling asleep and didn't wake up until it was morning and had to go straight to school." They nodded and Jenny felt stress hit her. Not stress from the shadow world and such, but homework and grades and missing more school. Jenny Thornton, held back a year. That sounded awful. She wasn't that behind yet, but if this kept up, it wasn't going to be pretty.

They all took turns using the phone. All their parents reluctantly agreed-except Zach's which they had expected. Jenny couldn't call her parents since they were probably on the plane at this moment. She wrote them a note saying she was staying with Summer to catch up on homework and to not wait up. She didn't think her parents would call Summer's house to check on her, not with Summer just getting back to her family and all. They dispersed to swing by their homes to get clothes and their backpacks and decided to meet at the motel just outside town.

Jenny went to her room, grabbed her duffel bag and threw in a change of clothes and a sweat suit to sleep in. She heard a light knock on her door and turned to see Julian leaning against the door frame. He had the same odd look as before and Jenny had to ask what that was about. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?" The look vanished with that and a small genuine smile replaced it. "Jenny. I'm sorry to put you in this situation again." So that's what that was, he felt guilty for her having to play another game, felt that it was his fault. She shook her head and laughed, "Julian, I was the one who agreed to it. This is the last game. Ever. Those are the stakes, when we win its done. No more shadow world crap for the rest of out lives, right?"

He nodded and then said, "I just need you to understand that this game is going to be very different from the games we've played before. I could never really hurt you or your friends. Kale won't hesitate to kill any of you. Especially you, Jenny." Jenny had thought as much, but to hear Julian spell it out kind of scared Jenny. She was more worried about her friends than herself, this really was her and Julian's battle to fight, not theirs.

Jenny looked back at Julian standing in her door way. He really was heartbreakingly beautiful. Perfect body, gorgeous face, elemental voice, and those eyes. They were so blue, so indescribable, Jenny still had a hard time focusing on anything when he was in the room. He was still wearing the white tee shirt, with the sleeves folded once over to give a view of his toned biceps, and black pants with black shoes. His hair fell into his eyes like it always had.

Jenny couldn't stop staring. It was like the time in the more games store when she had first seen him. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, except about the fact that she couldn't think about anything but Julian standing there looking at her. She was in awe that this man was completely, head over heels, in love with her. Since him being back he had been so good for her. He hadn't done one even remotely evil thing. He had comforted her when she saw Tom with that other girl, he had just talked with her like she was his equal, they had actually had fun together, and he made it clear that he would die for her if it came down to it.

_What am I doing? _Jenny thought, _Here he is, taking things slow, waiting for me to figure out my feelings for him and I already know what they are. I love him. Oh my God - I love Julian. And I'm still just staring… Still staring…And now he's smiling at me… _Jenny managed to clear her throat which enabled her to look away from him for a moment. She felt her cheeks light up, and when she looked back at Julian he was still smiling at her. "Are you alright?" He asked amused.

Jenny nodded and looked down at her bag to hide her face with her hair. She had been wearing it down since the games ended. She liked it better that way. She felt a hand brush her hair back behind her ear and turned to see Julian standing right next to her. She looked into his eyes which were very gentle looking, he still had that small smile on his lips. She couldn't help herself. She closed the distance between them and kissed him.

His hand wrapped around her back to pull her closer so their bodies were against one another. He kissed her like this might be the last time he could which frightened Jenny but also made her kiss him just as urgently. He pulled away slightly so their faces were still close to one another and whispered, "We have to win this game. I can't lose you. They can do anything to me as long as I know you are safe. I can handle anything except losing you." Jenny's throat tightened. She loved him and he loved her. "I love you, Julian." Julian froze, then pulled back so he could look at her.

He smiled at her, "I have always wanted to hear you say those words." Jenny smiled back, "I'm sorry it took so long to say them." He kissed her again but this time it wasn't urgent. It was slow and soft and sweet. It was a different kind of kiss, both of them letting their love for the other one show. Jenny wished it would never end. But it had to, they had a game to play for their lives. Apparently the universe agreed that it couldn't last forever because at that moment someone cleared their throat from behind Julian.

Jenny looked around Julian to see a smiling Audrey standing in the hallway. Jenny didn't know what to say, but apparently she didn't have to say anything. Audrey rushed over and hugged both Jenny and Julian, which was surprisingly not awkward. When Audrey pulled back Jenny saw the surprised look on Julian's face and couldn't help a laugh. Michael walked back towards Jenny's room and looked at all their faces, confusion showing on his face. He said, "Did I miss something? It seems like you are all having a really good time for a bunch of people having to play a game to save their lives." Jenny laughed, "Oh Mike. You know we have to keep the mood up so we don't go insane." He smiled, "True. What was so funny?" Audrey grabbed his hand and kissed his cheek and said, "Nothing. Lets get going before Jenny's family gets home."

They buckled themselves into Audrey's car, and headed to the motel. They passed Eastman Avenue which had always reminded Jenny of Julian since she walked into the more games store. She stole a glance at Julian and saw he was looking out Jenny's window at the same street she was. He had a small smile on his face and took her hand in his own. _We're finally together,_ Jenny thought and tried to ignore the stress of the impending game ruining her good mood.

They pulled up to the trashy motel about 15 minutes later. Audrey was already making faces at the appearance of the place while Jenny was staring at a guy in a beanie with his hands in his coat pockets. "How much do you wanna bet that guy has a gun?" Michael asked, his mind clearly on the same track as Jenny's. She shook her head as they got out. Julian went to the front desk and got a few room keys from the attendant and they made their way to the back of the motel to where Julian's room was.

It was a good sized room for the small motel. Two queen beds and plenty of floor space with two arm chairs around a table. The bathroom was pretty large too and it had a mini fridge, microwave, and coffee maker. Audrey squealed and Jenny spun around to see that she was looking at a pretty large spider running across the floor. Jenny instinctively jumped back, but then went after it after she decided she couldn't sleep unless she knew for certain it was dead. She tried to stomp on it but it darted away. Jenny swore she saw it hiss at her right before Julian stepped on it.

She thought about voicing this observation but didn't want to sound insane, so she kept that creepy little thought to herself and hoped there weren't any more abnormally large spiders running around. Audrey and Michael went out front to wait for Dee, Summer, and Zach to show up so they could tell them which room was theirs. Jenny looked around the room for spiders and maybe signs that a murder happened there, but she didn't voice this to Julian who watched her go from the fridge to the closet.

"You know they are more afraid of you than you are of them." Julian said, Jenny turned to give him a blank stare. "Spiders." He said. Jenny nodded, she knew this, but said, "That doesn't stop them from biting and being creepy." He laughed. Jenny sat down on the end of one of the beds and decided she needed to talk to someone about anything other than the game. "So are you missing your wardrobe? You kind of dressed outrageous during the games." Jenny said to Julian. He laughed again and sat on the end of the other bed. "Things get boring around the shadow world, believe it or not. But my clothing was all part of my image." He said with a sly smile.

Jenny was about to respond when Michael opened the door, with an extra key Julian had gotten, and entered with the rest of her friends in tow - minus Tom, of course.

The rest of the day was spent doing what little homework they could focus on and Audrey refusing to touch anything in the room until she got tired of standing and cautiously sat on the edge of an armchair. They ordered pizza, watched cops reruns, and eventually got tired. They all knew what was coming but that didn't make it any easier to talk about.

Jenny yawned for the fifth time and decided she should try to fall asleep. Audrey, and Summer had taken one queen sized bed, after Audrey inspected it, of course. Jenny and Dee had taken the other bed and Michael made himself a bed on the floor out of extra blankets that were in the closet. Zach and Julian took the arm chairs which Jenny thought looked completely uncomfortable, but they insisted they would fall asleep just fine in them.

"Let the games begin." Zach murmured after they were settled in and drifting off to sleep.

Do you like? I thought this one turned out pretty well, but if you disagree please tell me! I wont take criticism personally, also if i get anyone out of character please let me know. Again, I have a hard time with Julian, so if he seems too mushy or quiet please tell me! Please review, all of my reviewers so far are amazing!


	17. Chapter 17

**I own nothing! This one's verrrry long, enjoy!  
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Chapter 17

Jenny woke up on a hard surface. Well not really woke up, it felt like she had finally drifted off to sleep and then found herself in a place she didn't recognize. She opened her eyes and found herself looking up at a sky full of stars and a full moon illuminating what looked like a flat desert, only the ground was more like packed dust than sand. She pulled herself up into a sitting position and saw her friends beginning to wake up just as Jenny had a moment before. She looked down at herself and saw she was still wearing her baby blue VS sweat suit, with no socks or shoes - what she went to sleep in. _Great… _She thought sarcastically. She hoped the rest of the terrain would be as flat and smooth as this ground. The rest of her friends were dressed pretty similarly in sweat suits or pajama bottoms and tee shirts with socks, but no one wore shoes to bed.

Julian, who had slept in his black pants and snug white tee shirt - but also no shoes, was already standing up looking around the desert, his attention focused on some massive structures off in the distance. Jenny got up and stood by Julian, trying to make out what those large things were. She could tell that there was a lush looking jungle spanning across a large portion of the desert, and a few large forms rising from the middle of it. The moon did a good job of lighting up the area, but she still couldn't tell what they were. They almost looked like pyramids, only the lines weren't as smooth.

"Wow. Are those what I think they are?" Jenny turned to look at Michael who was standing on the other side of Julian. Julian nodded, "I believe so, but I'm not sure why Kale would bring us here." Jenny had no idea where here was. Summer asked, "Ok, where are we supposedly?" Julian shrugged, "It looks like what would be Belize today, but in ancient times it would be considered Maya." Dee yelled, "What?" It echoed painfully around them in the still night but Jenny was more concerned with the fear in her voice. Summer was shaking her head and whispering, "No, no, no…" Jenny looked around but saw no immediate danger and said, "What's wrong? Why is this so bad?" Zach who was starting intently at the jungle in the distance answered for them, "They watched a movie a the other night about how the Mayans sacrificed young girls to please the gods." He said it logically, as though it were no concern to any of them.

Jenny was about to ask another question, but Dee spoke, at a normal volume this time, "Not just any girls, they had to be pure. You know, virgins. I guess Audrey's off the hook." Audrey's head snapped in Dee's direction, "Hey!" She said, but that's all. Jenny knew that Michael and Audrey had taken things to the next level after the last game, but she didn't think Dee knew, so Jenny guessed she was just trying to be a pain.

Julian was still staring off at the jungle in the distance when Jenny heard slow footsteps coming up behind them. She spun around about the same time as the others heard the footsteps, ready to see a monster or Kale, but instead it was Tom.

"What is going on. Is this a dream?" He asked them as though he couldn't trust them. "I tried to tell you on the phone, this is another game." Jenny said to Tom who was staring at Julian like he was intruding. He was also shoeless-but in pajama bottoms and a grey tee shirt. He spoke to Jenny but didn't look away from Julian, who was looking rather arrogant at the moment, "Why the hell is he here?" Jenny took a deep breath. This was going to be a lot to explain. Luckily, Michael took the liberty of explaining things to Tom. He walked over to Tom and gave him a light punch in the arm and said, "Lets take a little walk." Tom was still having a staring match with Julian but reluctantly turned to go off with Michael. Jenny called after them, "Don't go far!" Michael waved back at Jenny to let her know he heard.

Julian turned back to the jungle yet again. "Do you see something?" Jenny whispered to him. He shook his head no, "I'm just trying to figure out where possible danger might happen." Jenny hadn't thought to map out a route through the jungle and she was instantly glad that Julian was on their side this time. He could probably guess half the things Kale was going to throw at them. Jenny was about to ask about this when Julian said, "There are other people." Jenny tried to see where Julian saw them, but all she saw was still, quiet trees and plants. She decided he must have still been better at seeing in the darkness than her, maybe a little shadow man quality that he got to keep.

Jenny heard Michael's voice and saw that they were coming back. Tom gave Julian a quick glare, but didn't say anything to anyone. He wouldn't meet Jenny's eyes, but at that moment she didn't care. They had bigger things to focus on. Julian spoke up, "It looks like this is a village and there are people in there. Remember that they aren't real, so if they try to attack you, don't hesitate to kill if you have to." Dee gave a small wicked smile at that, but didn't say anything. "If this game is how I think it is, whatever happens to you here - happens to you for real. If you get hurt, you get hurt. If you die, you die." It was what everyone had expected, Jenny could tell. And with that they headed out towards the jungle.

They walked quietly, looking around for possible danger the entire time. When they reached to entrance to the thick jungle, Jenny had to force herself to step into it. It was almost completely dark and she kept tripping on tree roots and plants. No one said anything, there were no noises other than the sound of their footsteps and the occasional animal or bug in the distance. Jenny had to stop herself from yelling when she stepped on something sharp. She looked down and saw that it was a white branch with a jagged end. She picked it up to get a better look at it before realizing it was actually a bone. She dropped it and wiped her hands on her pants, completely grossed out.

Julian walked back to her from the front of the group. "Are you ok?" He asked, she could barely make out his features in the dark, but she nodded. He took her hand and led her to the front of the group, where they walked a few more feet and then stopped. They all crouched down at the edge of the jungle, letting plants hide them from plain sight and looked upon the village in front of them.

There were several little mud huts in clusters to their left and right and in front of them was a path that led to what looked like the village commons. Rising up far above the mud huts and tree line was an incredibly tall Mayan pyramid with steps leading up each side. "That would be a killer work out to have to walk up those everyday." Dee whispered beside Jenny, who just nodded in agreement. Jenny looked around the village again, but didn't see anyone walking around. She was getting nervous, just sitting there waiting for something to happen. She whispered to Julian who was crouched on her other side, "I don't get it. What are we supposed to do?" Julian looked at Jenny and started to say, "It looks like-" When several men jumped out from all around them and had them circled, sharp spears pointed at them.

Julian pulled Jenny behind him so she was surrounded by her friends and him, who were in turn surrounded by the armed Mayans who wore nothing more than breechcloths which were wrapped around their waists and went down to their knees. They had elaborately painted their bodies with geometrical designs and had necklaces of bone, metal, wood, and some other materials Jenny couldn't make out.

One man yelled something at them in a language Jenny couldn't understand. When none of them said anything a different man grabbed Zach and tied his hands behind his back and pushed him out of the way to grab Tom, and then began tying him up too. When they grabbed Audrey, Michael looked like he wanted to try to stop the Mayans, but none of them could move with the spears pointed dangerously close to their necks.

They grabbed Julian roughly, but he didn't resist when they tightly bound his wrists behind his back. Another man yanked Jenny's arms back and tied them so tight she could feel her pulse in her fingertips. She felt a sharp point of a spear poke at her back and realized the man was yelling something at her. She guessed he was telling her to move, so she did. All her friends walked with a Mayan behind them, spears poised as if ready to kill at any moment.

Jenny was scared, she had no idea what was happening, or if they were supposed to be doing anything to stop them. They didn't even have any idea what kind of game this was. They were heading towards the large pyramid like temple, but stopped before ascending the steps. It looked like a large courtyard. A few of their captors ran up the steps surprisingly quick and emerged a few seconds later with a tall decorated man behind them. The man stood at the top of the temple and blew a loud horn.

Minutes later the courtyard was filled with people. They emerged from their huts at the sound of the horn and stood along the lines of the courtyard, looking at Jenny and her friends as though they were aliens. Jenny looked at Julian who made eye contact with her and gave her a nod as if to say this was alright. It made Jenny feel instantly better that Julian didn't seem worried yet.

When it appeared the whole village was there, the man at the top of the temple yelled out to speak to everyone who gathered, again in some odd language Jenny couldn't place. Julian whispered very quietly to Jenny, "He is saying that we are outsiders who come to spy for the devil." Jenny shot a worried look at Julian, but he just nodded at her again. She was amazed that he could understand what the man was saying, then again he had been a shadow man for thousands of years and probably knew every language there ever was.

The man kept talking for a moment and then kneeled down and held his hands in the air. Jenny looked to Julian for an explanation of what was happening. "He's praying to the gods for an answer on what to do with us." Julian said, seeing Jenny look up at him. After a moment, the man stood and yelled something that caused the whole village to clap and shout. Jenny knew something really bad was about to happen, just to reinforce her thoughts she looked at Julian, she knew the fear showed in her eyes but she didn't care. She silently begged him to say they would let them all go. Julian looked at Jenny and shook his head, "He says the gods want blood." She hoped that wasn't the answer, but honestly she had expected as much.

Jenny looked at Dee who was next to her and visibly shaking, but there was not an ounce of fear on her face. "Dee?" Dee looked at Jenny and said, "Its ok. Tell me what Julian said - I can take it." Jenny whispered, "He said the gods want blood." Dee nodded and continued to tell Zach who was next to her and so on down the line to Summer who silently sobbed. Jenny hoped Summer could handle this. She couldn't lose her friend again, permanently this time.

Jenny turned to Julian as the Mayans began lighting huge bonfires around the courtyard and a few brought out what looked like drums. "What's happening? What are we supposed to do?" She was a little disappointed at the fear that showed in her voice but she couldn't help it. With all these people around, illusions or not, it felt all too real.

Julian looked down at Jenny and explained, "The Mayans would celebrate sacrifice. They usually had dances and ate huge meals before a sacrifice. As for what we are supposed to do, I'm not sure yet. We could try to escape but we won' get far. Or we could just have to face it, to willingly be sacrificed to get through this. I don't think its wise to try anything until Kale makes an appearance. If we're wrong - well, you can guess." Jenny was focusing on her breathing, she knew what he meant. If they try to escape and that's not what Kale intended as the way out, someone could die. And if they willingly sacrificed themselves and that wasn't the way out - same thing.

"So you think we should wait it out? Go along with whatever they want us to do?" Dee asked from beside Jenny. Julian regained that wolfish smile of his, blue eyes gleaming in the firelight. "It doesn't appear we have much of a choice." He said to Dee, who sighed and nodded in agreement.

Before Jenny knew what was happening, they were ushered up the steps. By the time they reached the top, Jenny's side hurt and she was breathing heavy. She looked down the side of the large temple they just climbed and instantly took a few steps backwards. Her knees felt weak, they were up so high. Jenny could see across the tree tops and the unobstructed night sky. Julian took a few steps back so he was next to Jenny. He stood close enough so their arms touched, still tied behind their backs. Jenny's fingers had gone numb and she just hoped they didn't have to be amputated after this.

Julian whispered in her ear, "You wont fall." Jenny looked back at him and managed a small smile, "I hope not. It would be a long way down." He leaned down and kissed her lips very softly, Jenny was just about to kiss him back when some man yelled at them. They pulled away from each other and Jenny noticed all her friends were staring at her with shocked expressions. Well, except Audrey who was smiling at her. Jenny blushed and shrugged at them. What else could she do? They were all tied up and about to be sacrificed. Jenny looked at Tom and was shocked to see so much hate in his eyes. It took all she had not to tell him she had seen him do the exact same thing at the mall two days after they had broken up. How could he look at her that way when he had done the same thing?

Jenny's thoughts were interrupted when a few men with swords split them into two groups. Men and women. They were all led to a room and their tied hands were tied to long rope across the length of the walls. Men on one side of the room, women on the other. Jenny could hear the shouts and laugher and music from the courtyard below. _How savage._ She thought. Having a great time before watching innocent people die.

Just as Jenny was beginning to feel completely hopeless, none other than Kale walked through the curtain that let into the room. He was wearing the same outfit he had at Jenny's house and had a look of sick excitement in his eyes. "Why so glum?" He asked them. Jenny saw Dee shake her head out the corner of her eye, and saw Tom narrow his eyes at the realization this was the shadow man orchestrating the game. Of all people, Summer spoke up, "What are we supposed to do?" Jenny could feel her fear in her voice.

Kale laughed, it sounded hallow. He said, "Well, that's why I'm here…Summer, right?" She managed a small nod. He walked slowly to the center of the room. "Julian, what's it like being on the other side?" Julian shot Kale a look of pure hatred and violence, blue eyes flashing like blue flame, but said nothing. Kale shrugged, "Consider this game a scavenger hunt of sorts. At the beginning of each task, you will be given a hint - that is, if you pay the price for it - and that hint will lead you to some object you need to collect to get through dream. Collect them all and win." He said simply. Jenny was surprised to hear Tom speak to Kale, "How many objects are there to collect?" Kale cocked his head to the side and looked at Tom. "Well I don't believe we've met. Your, Tom, aren't you?" Tom nodded, his face completely serious. Kale laughed, "Ah, Julian. This is Tom? Not quite what I expected." Kale laughed and Tom just glared. "Lets say that there are three objects to collect, that seemed to be Julian's preference when it came to games." Kale shot Julian another look, but Julian wasn't doing anymore than looking back at Kale with a dangerous glare.

It seemed like Kale was getting angry at Julian. Kale kept pushing Julian, but Julian wasn't giving Kale any reaction other than glaring at him pretty dangerously. "What's the price for the hint?" Asked Dee. Kale smiled at Dee, a little too sweetly for Jenny's taste. He turned his gaze back to Julian, hot victory in his eyes, and said, "Julian, the price for the hints in your games was a kiss, wasn't it?" Jenny froze. No one knew about that. Especially Tom. True, they weren't together anymore, but Jenny still didn't want Tom to find out Jenny had been kissing Julian all throughout the games-even if it was for their benefit.

Julian continued to stare at Kale, it almost scared Jenny to see the look in Julian's eyes. Jenny looked around to her friends who were mentally connecting the dots. The times Jenny would disappear for a few minutes, and then come back with the next hint - they understood now. "Julian, I'll take that as a yes. And in that spirit, the price for this hint it just that - a kiss." Kale turned his gaze to Jenny and she felt her knees get weak. Kale was the absolute last person on the planet she would ever want to kiss.

Unfortunately, the look in Kale's eyes told her that was the price. Her friends looked shocked and horrified. Jenny looked at Julian and saw sadness in his eyes. He knew that she had only ever kissed Tom and himself, and both of them loved her and didn't want to hurt her. Kale, on the other hand was the complete opposite and the thought scared her.

"Jenny. You don't have to, we can try to do this without a hint." Zach said, but Jenny knew better. There was no way they could guess what object they needed to find without a hint. "I have to, Zach." Jenny heard a not quite sane, strangled laugh and looked to see Tom looking at the ground, shaking his head. Dee nodded at Jenny in encouragement. Jenny looked back to Julian with a look that she hoped said its ok, and she begged him with her eyes to understand. He did. She knew he did. He gave her a small nod of reassurance.

Jenny looked back at Kale, her arms and hands aching from being tied for so long. "Alright. But the hint first." Jenny said. Kale threw his head back and laughed, "Oh Jenny. You shouldn't expect me to be as nice as Julian. The kiss first." Jenny had no room to argue and simply nodded.

Kale walked towards Jenny and she knew he couldn't touch her without her permission, just as Julian couldn't in the first game. He bent his head and stopped just before their lips touched, letting Jenny close the distance between them. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see his cruel, cold eyes and their lips met. It was a hard kiss and Jenny felt her heartbeat quicken with fear and disgust. His lips felt cold against hers, unlike Julian's which were always warm and soft.

Jenny pulled back after a second and felt used. She gave him a cold look, as cold as she could muster and said, "The hint." He laughed and walked back towards the middle of the room, and simply said, "Nephrite." And then he was gone. Disappearing into thin air in the blink of an eye. Jenny felt furious, "That's it?" She yelled, knowing he was still probably watching. He made her feel humiliated by forcing her to kiss him for a hint that turned out to be one word. And worse, Jenny had absolutely no idea what that word meant.

"Jenny. It's ok, it's more than we knew before." Audrey said quietly, Jenny couldn't see her face, but she was thankful for her trying to make her feel better. "Yeah Jenny, that was brave of you." Summer said. Zach nodded at Jenny and gave a small smile. Tom glanced at her, but didn't give any indication of what he was feeling. Dee nudged her arm and gave Jenny a wicked smile before signaling with her head for Jenny to look at Michael and Julian who were tied up across from her. Jenny looked across the room and saw that they were both smiling at her.

Jenny was confused. She had just kissed the enemy and Michael was smiling ear to ear, and Julian was grinning wolfishly, looking at Jenny. "Did I miss something?" Jenny asked them. Michael giggled and Julian answered for him, "Nephrite is another name for jade." Jenny smiled. She still felt disgusted by Kale but now it was worth it, they had a chance after all. Audrey asked, "Where are we going to find any jade lying around here?" Julian looked toward the door and Jenny realized there were footsteps coming their way. "Jade was commonly worn by the Mayans, just keep an eye out for it and find a way to grab it if you can." Julian said to them all right before a few young girls walked into the room.

They were wearing white tunics wrapped around their bodies similar to how Jenny pictured the Egyptians dressing. They also had bone necklaces and gold bands around their arms, but no jade. They had white sheets in their arms and Jenny realized they were actually tunics like the ones they were wearing. The girl called something to the guard outside the room and he came in with a wicked looking knife, Jenny looked him over as well as the knife, but saw no jade on him either.

The man pulled Jenny forward so her wrists were pulling on their rope and she had to try not to scream out in pain. She saw him raise and then bring down the knife out of the corner of her eye and she waited for the pain, only to realize he cut her hands free. She brought them around to massage her wrists and shake the blood back into them which hurt immensely. She saw they were incredibly purple and then saw the man had cut all of the girls free and were instructing them to follow the Mayan girls with the sheets into the other room.

The girls helped Jenny, Audrey, Summer, and Dee - who almost put up a fight - into the tunics, which were wrapped tightly around their bodies. Jenny's hands were still throbbing when they put gold bands on Jenny's arms and then the guards pushed them through a curtain and out into the night air on a large platform at the top of the other side of the temple. Heat hit Jenny's face and she realized there was a monstrous fire about 50 feet below the platform. There was a plank, that reminded Jenny of one's they used to have on pirate ships, that was directly above the fire pit. She didn't want to look, but couldn't help herself, and saw that the fire pit was very deep and lined with ornate bricks. It looked like a long way down.

People began cheering and Jenny realized the whole village was at the base of the temple awaiting their deaths. Jenny felt a rough hand on her arm, and the girls were pushed forward so they were about five feet from the edge of the large platform. There were more cheers when the girls were closer to the edge, able to be seen by the awaiting spectators below. Summer started whimpering, and Audrey was visibly shaking. Dee looking incredibly strong at the moment, which Jenny was glad for.

She heard a ruckus behind her and looked to see the guys, Julian, Tom, Michael, and Zach, all being brought out from the curtain that led inside. Their hands were tied, but this time in the front of their bodies and Tom had several small cuts on his face. Jenny looked at Julian and noticed his lower lip was split. It looked like they had tried to fight their captors, and lost. Julian met Jenny's eyes and he motioned with his head to the man who was at the top of the temple earlier that night. The one who prayed to find out what to do with them.

At first Jenny didn't get it, then she noticed his ring. It had a large green gem in the middle of it - Jade. Jenny immediately whispered to Dee, who passed it down the line to the two other girls. They had to get that ring. It was the only way out that didn't involve being tossed into a giant, _incredibly_ hot, fire. Jenny looked back to Julian when she heard a crash and saw he had knocked over a guard and Tom was kicking the guard in the side. Julian went for a second guard and crashed into him with his shoulder, Zach putting his leg out behind him to trip him, and then also kicking that guard.

A guard came up behind Jenny and held a knife to her throat as if to keep her from helping the guys, along with Summer, and Audrey, but Dee wouldn't have that. She grabbed the knife out of the guard's hand before he could react, and shoved him back towards the edge of the platform where he fell into the fire. The fall looked long, and he screamed for a few seconds after entering the fire, which horrified Jenny - even if that guard wasn't real.

Julian was going after another guard with Dee's help when Jenny noticed the man with the ring starting to back away from the violence. Jenny stomped on the guard's foot, who was holding the knife to her and shoved him before he even realized what she was doing. He didn't fall into the fire like the other man had, but he did fall backwards to the ground.

Jenny took off after the man before the guard could grab her. The man with the ring saw Jenny running towards him and ran into the room with the curtain as a door. She followed him in and was taken completely off guard when he grabbed her as soon as she went through the curtain. She tried to pull out of his grip or at least pull of his ring, but he was holding her wrists too tight. He spun Jenny so he held her wrists behind her back, and said something that didn't sound like it was very nice to her. The man guided her out through the curtain they had just come through, but this time he wasn't going to waste any time.

He was leading her toward the plank at the end of the platform. She tried to dig into the ground with her feet, and she struggled with all her might, but it only slowed down the man a little. She frantically turned her head and looked for Dee or Julian or Tom or someone to help her or at least grab the ring. She saw Julian being held back by three guards. When Julian saw her, his face took on a look of fear that resembled the one Jenny saw in the cave in the third game after she'd almost drowned. Only this look was more frantic and he began struggling against the guards with all his might, even when they put a knife to his throat.

Jenny felt as if time was moving in slow motion, she could see the plank right in front of her and as soon as she took one step onto it and felt the scorching heat on her face, it felt like something snapped inside of her. She was not going down without a fight, she decided. If Julian would try to fight for her with a knife to his neck, she can at least try to gain herself an extra few seconds to live. Jenny yanked her wrists out of the mans hands as fast, and as hard as she could. As soon as she felt him let go, she spun around and shoved him as hard as she possibly could. As soon as he fell backwards to the ground, Jenny was on top of him grabbing the hand with the ring on it. He yanked it out of her grip and raised his hand to slap Jenny, but never got any further as Michael threw himself onto the man's upper body. It was like an awkward, painful doggie pile with Zach following and throwing himself on the mans lower half.

Jenny went for the mans hand again and felt the ring between her fingers right as she felt a hard rough shove to her shoulders. Jenny felt herself stumble backwards and fall off the edge of the platform and freefall towards the roaring fire. She heard people calling her name in frantic, scared tones as the hot air blew around her, and she knew it was too late. She felt the ring still between her fingers as the heat rushed up to meet her. The last thing she thought before she left the darkness engulf her was, _Julian, I'm sorry._

__Alright, I know you must be hating me for this cliffy! But the story goes on and I will try to update asap! I already started the next chapter, but its late and I have an early morning, so - sorry! please review. My loyal reviewers are the best and I really appreciate all your comments.


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry about the wait! Lets say I need 5 reviews to continue. **

**I own nothing  
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Chapter 18

Jenny sat up with a gasp. _Oh God, where am I? _She thought frantically, then looked around and remembered the motel room. She felt Dee shoot up into a sitting position next to her and saw and heard the rest of her friends waking up. "Jenny!" Summer yelled and Julian woke up and looked for her. The second he saw her sitting there in bed, he was next to her and pulling her into a tight hug. He pulled back for a second to look over her face as though he couldn't believe she was really alive and ok. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated and he looked a little pale, almost exactly how he had looked in the cave after he pulled her from the water. He pulled her in for another hug, burying his face in her hair and Jenny could feel his hands shaking as he held her.

"Hey, we all thought she died too, you don't have to hog her." Dee said with a grin next to Jenny and Julian. He pulled back and Dee grabbed her and gave her a tight hug. A second later every one in the room, minus Tom and Julian, were giving her one big group hug. Jenny could barely breathe she was being squeezed so tightly by her friends but she managed to get enough air to laugh.

After a few seconds they pulled back and went to sit scattered throughout the room. Julian was smiling at Jenny as he leaned against the wall opposite from where she was sitting. She noticed his bottom lip had a small cut on it, just like in their dream. Tom had a bruise on his right cheekbone and Dee had a few small bruises on her arm peeking out from under the sleeve of her nightshirt. Michael broke their silence. "Jenny, don't get me wrong, I'm glad your alive. But shouldn't you be dead?" Tom nodded in agreement, "Yeah, no offense but where's Kale? We lost didn't we?" Everyone looked somber and grim as the memory of last nights game hit all of them.

Jenny smiled. She had felt the hard piece of metal in her hand since she had woken up, but hadn't had a chance to say anything since her friends were so focused on her not being dead. "We didn't lose. We won." Jenny said quietly. Everyone stared at her as though she were crazy, but she just smiled and held up the ring. "Even while being pushed off the side of a temple and into a fire you managed to hang on the ring." Julian said proudly. Zach shook his head in excited disbelief, "No way…" Audrey and Summer just laughed. Dee punched Tom in the arm playfully and even Tom was grinning.

Michael spoke up, "So this means that as soon as we grab the object we need in the games, its over? We don't have to get them anywhere?" Julian shook his head, "That's right. If Jenny hadn't held on to the ring until we woke up, we would have lost." Dee smiled at Jenny, "Good job sunshine." "Thanks." Jenny said.

She looked over at the clock and saw that it was only 5 am. She groaned at the clock and rubbed her wrists. They weren't bruised, thank god, but they were definitely sore from being tied so tightly. Zach shrugged seeing Jenny look at the clock. "I might as well try to sneak back in my house before my parents wake up and realize I wasn't there all night. See you guys at school?" Jenny sighed and nodded, she didn't want to go and felt surprisingly tired even after getting over nine hours of sleep last night.

Zach gathered his things and left but not before giving Summer a warm smile. She smiled back and turned bright red after she saw Jenny smiling at her and her cousin. _He's finally interested in something that doesn't have to do with photography… _"Hey guys I'm gonna head out too. I need to go to school early to sit in the library and focus on my homework, cause lord knows I can't here." Dee said emerging from the bathroom in school clothes. _And Dee is actually doing schoolwork… _"I'll come with you, if you don't mind. I have physiology homework I haven't touched." Audrey said fixing her hair and trying to smooth a wrinkle out of her pant suit. Dee said sure and they headed out with Michael following behind. He turned and gave Jenny a thumbs up before closing the door behind him.

Jenny couldn't stop smiling. Her friends were doing well, even after everything that has been thrown at them the last couple months. They were happy and getting along with each other, trying to go through life normally despite the fact that they were playing a game for their lives.

"Hey, uh, Jenny? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Tom asked. Jenny was still smiling when she looked at him. He looked like normal Tom, no glaring or anger in his face. Her feelings were no more than friendly for him, but she was still glad to see him looking like his normal self. Jenny nodded and stood up to follow Tom outside the motel room. She glanced at Julian on her way out but couldn't read anything from his expression. He was still leaning up against the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest. He had a slight smirk on his lips, but Jenny was beginning to believe that was his natural expression. She glanced at Summer to make sure she would be ok with Julian for a minute and her smile told Jenny she would be fine.

They walked side by side, but not too close. Tom was heading for a bench by the motel office and Jenny following and sat on one end, Tom on the other. His brown hair looked messy, but very stylish and his warm brown eyes looked over her face for a moment as though he didn't know what to say. The tugged at the sleeves of her sweat suit waiting for him to say something. After a second that felt pretty long he finally spoke. "Thorny, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have acted the way I did when I saw Julian, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you." Jenny was about to say she understood and should have told Tom about Julian, but before she could even open her mouth, he continued. "And I'm sorry for acting the way I did when we… broke up. I still love you. I always will and I don't want to fight with you, I want to be your friend." Jenny felt the exact same and was surprised at the relief she felt when Tom said he wanted to be her friend. She smiled and hugged him.

He automatically hugged her back, but it wasn't a romantic hug in anyway, just a friendly hug like she would give Michael or Zach. "So, friends?" Tom asked, smiling. Jenny nodded and said, "Friends." She stood and Tom stood as well, but they didn't go back to the room yet. "I'm really proud of you. For getting the ring. I was so scared you died." Jenny gave a small laugh, "Yeah, it wasn't very fun. I'm just happy I don't have to go to school with burn marks. That would be tough to explain." He laughed and they started back to the room slowly. "I saw you, you know. At the mall with that girl." Jenny said quietly but not accusatory. Tom gave her a glance that was full of guilt. "I figured when Audrey gave me her piece of mind. I wasn't trying to hurt you and I wasn't over you if that's what you thought. I was just trying to get my mind off you." Jenny nodded, "Its something we're going to have to deal with. Seeing each other with other people." Jenny felt bad that Tom and Julian had to be around each other and just hoped they wouldn't try to cause too much trouble for one another.

They were at the room and Jenny was about to reach for the door knob when Tom stopped her, "Thorny? Just promise me one thing?" Jenny looked back and nodded for him to go on, "If Julian doesn't treat you amazing, let me know. I would love to have a reason to hit him." Jenny laughed, she knew Tom probably couldn't land a punch on Julian, even with him being human now, but she nodded and said ok anyway.

They walked back into the room and saw Julian and Summer playing checkers. Summer was laughing and Julian looked up when Jenny walked in and gave her a grin. "Where'd you find that?" Jenny asked taking her shoes off. "It was in the bottom drawer of the dresser." Summer said not looking away from the board. Jenny's cheeks were beginning to hurt from all the smiling she had been doing this morning, but she couldn't help it. Julian was getting along with her friends. Summer, who Jenny had expected to be the most afraid of Julian was playing checkers and laughing with him. And she and Tom were in a good place.

Tom grabbed his backpack and said goodbye to the three of them and headed out to school. Jenny sat on the bed closest to the table Julian and Summer were playing at and saw Julian was obviously winning. Summer moved her checker and Jenny saw Julian had a jump but he didn't take it. He winked when Jenny looked up at him and she just smiled yet again. She went over to her duffel bag and grabbed the outfit she packed for school. It was snug jeans and the cream top Julian had picked out for Jenny when they went to the mall. She changed in the bathroom and brushed her hair. She wiped off the remnants of yesterdays makeup and applied a fresh coat. She looked at the ring she had left on the bathroom counter. She didn't know how important it was to keep a hold of it, so she slipped it on her thumb, the only finger it would fit snug on. She didn't want to chance Kale making up a rule that they had to actually have all the objects to win, and she didn't want to take the chance of not having it. After brushing her teeth she emerged from the bathroom to see Julian had won the game of checkers, but not by much.

He smiled when he looked at her, that wolf hungry smile that made his blue eyes look electric. Julian grabbed his own bag, his hair falling into his eyes as he bent down to grab it. He changed into a black button down shirt but left it unbuttoned down to the middle of his chest and some light blue jeans. He had a leather bracelet on and Jenny felt like she couldn't breathe for a moment when she saw him. Jenny realized he was smiling at her and she looked away. Trying to hide an embarrassed smile at the thought of Julian seeing her check him out.

"Jenny, I just realized everyone left us here without a car." Summer said emerging from the bathroom in some jeans and a flowy flowery top. Jenny mentally smacked herself. How could she forget that they didn't have a car? Jenny sank down on the edge of a bed and shrugged. "I guess we could call a cab? My parents can't find out I wasn't at your house last night." Julian walked over to the door, "I'll be right back. Don't call a cab just yet." Jenny wasn't sure what he was doing but she could tell by his dark smile that she wouldn't like it, so she didn't ask. After Julian left the room Summer turned to her.

"You do love him don't you?" Summer asked but not in any tone other than curiosity. Jenny nodded, "I do. I started to realize it at the end of the last game. In the tunnel of love and despair. And then when Tom was trying to drag me through the door to home, I guess when I decided I wanted to stay and talk with Julian more than go home I realized I did love him in a way. And then he took my place and died for me and… I never thought I would have the chance to see if it was real. Now that he is back, I see that it is. This sounds pretty cliché' doesn't it?" Jenny said noticing she was rambling on. Summer laughed and shook her head. "No. It's romantic. I mean, yeah, he did try to kill me off and all but I actually had fun with him today. I don't really think he's evil. Maybe not all good, but not evil. I just think he didn't know how to show you he loved you." Jenny hugged Summer, incredibly glad that she seemed to understand exactly how she felt. Her other friends didn't saw anything about Jenny and Julian kissing, but she didn't know if that was because they didn't know how to go about it, or if they just forgot with all the excitement of last night.

Julian came back through the door. "You ready to head out?" He still had that gleam in his eye that made Jenny a little uneasy, but she grabbed her back pack and her and Summer walked outside following Julian to the parking lot where a shiny black Lexus sat. Summer and Jenny just stared at the car. Julian was holding the passenger door open for Jenny but she was still trying to figure out how he could have gotten the keys to this car. "It helps if you get in." He said looking a little too amused for Jenny's taste.

They got in the car and Jenny smelt the new leather and paint, the real new car smell, not the nasty stuff they sell as air freshener. After Julian pulled out of the parking lot and was headed back into Vista Grande Jenny had to ask. "Ok, where did you get this car? You stole it, didn't you?" He laughed and glanced at her, "No, I didn't steal it. There was a very generous old man who agreed to let me borrow it." It was Jenny's turn to laugh. "Yeah, after you threatened him." Julian just laughed harder. "Jenny, I told you once I wasn't so bad. I can be very persuasive without force or threats." He said rather charmingly. She still couldn't picture some old man just letting Julian borrow his car. "I'll believe it when I see it." He nodded, "Fair enough."

They pulled into the school parking lot about 15 minutes later. Summer grabbed her backpack, "See you in tennis Jenny, bye Julian!" After the car door slammed Jenny turned to Julian. "What are you going to do all day?" He was unbuckling his seat belt, "I'm going to school with you." Jenny laughed to the point that there were tears in her eyes, and then she realized he was serious. "Julian, you aren't exactly going to blend in. Plus, the teachers won't let you just sit in their classes unless your actually a student." Julian got out of the car and opened Jenny's door. He buttoned his shirt up another button and then with a grin said, "There, I should blend in a little better now. And as for not being a student, I'll let you see just how persuasive I can be." Jenny wasn't too sure about this and as for him not blending in, she wasn't talking about his shirt being unbuttoned a button too far.

He led her to the office where she stood just in the doorway and a secretary looked at Julian and blushed, beckoning him to come up to the counter. _You could be his mother and your looking at him like a piece of meat. Gross. _Jenny thought, but really she couldn't blame her. He was gorgeous. And, yeah, she couldn't really be his mother, but as looks were concerned she could have.

Jenny couldn't hear what Julian was saying but it must have worked because he walked over to Jenny and handed her a schedule that was, coincidentally, the same as hers. "See?" He whispered in her ear before taking her hand and leading her to their first period class, Advanced European history. A god-awful class for first period, but her teacher mainly just gave lectures and tested them on their notes.

They walked in and Julian handed Mr. Wilkinson a slip of paper from the office. They sat next to each other at one of the double tables in the back of the room. After the bell rang and the rest of her classmates took their seats, Mr. Wilkinson introduced Julian to the class as Julian Adams. "Adams?" Jenny whispered to Julian stifling a laugh, "Would you have preferred Shadow?" He whispered back with a playful grin. Jenny heard a "shhh" come from her right and looked to see the girl who had yelled at her a few months ago in her computer class, when Jenny had unplugged her computer and thought there was a snake under her table. Jenny threw her a look and whispered, "Oh come on, Stacie." Stacie scoffed and looked away from Jenny.

The rest of the class was terribly uneventful and then they headed to physiology which Jenny had with Audrey. Audrey hiked her eyebrow when she saw Julian, but didn't ask. They all sat in desks next to each other and read their assignments quietly. Jenny glanced at Julian and saw he was actually reading the physiology book. Jenny counted that she yawned four times in that hour.

Next they headed off to pre-calculus which they shared with Michael and Tom. Again they all sat near each other and Jenny caught Tom giving Julian dirty looks every now and then, but Julian would just smile an evil looking smile when Tom glared. After that class, Jenny decided it was bore the students to sleep day.

They made it through the next class which was a college prep class that Jenny had always been fond of, but it continued on with the day's trend of monotone lectures. Jenny was immensely grateful it was lunch then and she grabbed a salad from the cafeteria. Julian just grabbed an apple, and they headed to the grassy knoll where they usually sat at lunch. Michael, Zach, Dee, Summer, Tom, and Audrey were all already there eating their lunches, and Jenny saw that they all looked as equally tired as Jenny felt.

"So, how's your first day of school?" Dee was asking Julian a little sarcastically when a senior girl waltzed over to their group and sat down next to Julian. "Hey, I'm Kenzie." She said to Julian in an incredibly flirty voice. "That's a dog's name." Audrey said before Julian could even open his mouth to say anything to this 'Kenzie', which did in fact sound like something someone would name a dog. Julian just laughed at Audrey's comment but it didn't seem to faze the girl. "I was wondering if you would want to go out sometime?"

"Sorry Kenzie, your not my type." This seemed to piss Kenzie off. She stood up and gave Jenny a not very nice look before storming off. The bell rang and Jenny groaned not wanting to go to tennis, but then after a second thought she decided it might be good for her to run around a little, it might wake her up a bit.

Unfortunately, the universe had different plans for Jenny because this period was spend reading a rather large book on form in tennis. They all sat around on the bleachers in the gym during this period and Jenny found herself mindlessly flipping through the pages and trying not to nod off. She almost did at one point but Audrey pulled Jenny's hair to get her to wake up. She sent Audrey a cold look which just made her laugh.

They headed to English after that and it was terrible. They dimmed the lights and put on the worlds most uninteresting movie about Earnest Hemmingway. Jenny and Julian couldn't sit together in this class as it was assigned seating in alphabetical order and apparently his last name was now Adam's so he was in the front. Zach and Jenny sat next to each other towards the back and Jenny started doodling instead of taking notes like she was supposed to. Zach was sitting with his chin resting on his arms which were crossed on the desk and he looked like he was actually into the movie. Julian was looking at the screen but Jenny swore she thought she saw him shake his head every few minutes as though the facts in the movie were incorrect. Jenny had her head resting on her hand which was propped up by her elbow and realized she couldn't keep her eyes open. She felt like she only closed them for a second but when she opened them she was not in her classroom.

Jenny was in some kind of tunnel that felt like it was underground. The air felt heavy and damp and oddly familiar. _Just like the mine ride in Joyland Park… _"Well, well, well. Look who couldn't stay awake." Jenny spun around and could barely make out the shadow man in the dark tunnel but knew his voice well enough by now to know that it was Kale. Jenny squeezed her eyes shut and pinched her arm trying hopelessly to wake herself up. _How could I think that I could fall asleep and be fine? Was I really that stupid I thought we would only be playing a game at night when we go to sleep? _Kale laughed seeing Jenny realize what was happening.

"Like your friend Michael put it, this is Freddie Krueger style. Every time you fall asleep, you play, not just at night. And here I was beginning to think you were smarter than that." He laughed and then a torch lit out of no where in his hand and Kale stuck it in a crack in the wall just as Julian had when they were playing his game. "Have fun." Kale said, and in the blink of an eye he was gone, as though he had never been there to begin with. The only evidence was the torch stuck in the wall.

Jenny took a deep breath and tried to pull the torch out. The fire was hot and Jenny almost burned herself trying to yank it out of the wall. After a minute, Jenny realized it wasn't budging and she forced herself to begin walking down the long dark tunnel.

With every step the tunnel grew darker, almost like in the nightmare she had a few nights before, until finally she came to a small cavern. Jenny realized almost instantly that this was the same cavern she had basically drowned in. She turned to run back out but the cave was engulfed in pitch black darkness before she could take a step. She instinctively knew that there was no longer a way out of the cavern and she was closed in. She sat down and tried to steady her breathing.

It terrified her more than she thought it would. She couldn't really think about what was happening the last time she was here, it was all adrenaline and panic, but now she knew what was coming.

She heard the whispers before she saw the eyes, just like last time. The low demonic sounding voices coming from every corner. She put her head down on her knees, not wanting to see the eyes. She could hear the voices, like records playing backwards. Finally they stopped and Jenny breathed a sigh of relief. She remembered that the water would start any second now and she began running her hands along the floor of the cave looking for some loose rock to carve the rune Isa with. She found none. _Don't panic, think. _She told herself firmly. Then she heard the water, only this time it poured out off all of the walls, like a giant circular waterfall. It was ice cold, so cold it hurt. The water was rising, much too fast for Jenny to think of a way out. Her mind was racing, her legs aching from cold. It was rising up her stomach, up her chest, finally up her neck. She began treading water as best as she could.

_Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic- _"Julian!" She yelled as the ceiling slowly come closer. "Dee!" "Someone, help!" Just as Jenny's head was forced under the water by the ceiling of the cave she heard a high pitch noise - it was startling and incredibly loud. Jenny jumped and felt wood under her hands. Her desk. She was at school. Zach was looking at her, worried by the look on her face. Julian walked over to Jenny's table and also took on a worried look. "What's wrong?" Jenny laughed, she couldn't help it.

"I just cant seem to stop almost dying."

What do you think? Sorry if there are grammatical errors, I had a long day at work and seem to keep noticing them when I re-read. All of my reviewers: You guys are awesome and you rock! So please keep it up even if its just to say hi, so i know you are still actually reading this!


	19. Chapter 19

Sorry it has taken me so long! I havent given up on this story, its just taking a little longer than i expected... I'm so sorry! magicdemi-god223: im sorry! i realized after i published the last chapter i wasnt clear on the shrill, ringing noise that woke jenny up. it was supposed to be the school bell, but i didnt notice it until too late :( thank you for asking though! i hope you all enjoy and i will try very hard to keep this story going. i dont own anything, its all lj smith's!

Chapter 19

They left the classroom and gathered in the parking lot by Tom's car and Jenny told all of her friends what happened. Julian let out a breath and looked, well, pissed. Tom had a similar expression to Julian only his was laced with slight fear, just like the others. "Well this sucks." Dee had said and Jenny agreed. "At least we know now that we shouldn't go to sleep without everyone falling asleep at the same time. Or else we go in alone." Tom said. "Hey guys, I have to get home. My parents didn't like me not sleeping at home last night, they barely agreed to let me stay out and I had to promise to come home right after school." Summer was saying. Jenny knew that her parents wouldn't have liked her not being home last night either and she didn't see anyway that they would let her stay over at a friends house again.

"So, are we pulling an all niter? Or are we going to try to sleep at the same time and just see if we end up together?" Zach was asking. "We can't just stay awake all night. We won't get any further in the game and we will just end up falling asleep in class tomorrow." Audrey replied logically. Jenny agreed, they couldn't stay awake just to not risk going into the game separately. "So how's 9pm for bedtime?" Mike asked, although it seemed like he would have preferred an early 7 pm. Everyone agreed and Summer grabbed her backpack to leave.

They waved bye to Summer and slowly the group dispersed, all heading to their homes with more makeup homework and excuses for where they were last night. Dee was the last to walk away from Jenny and Julian. "Hey Sunshine, are you ok? Really?" Jenny smiled and nodded at Dee. "I'm fine. Don't worry. And don't fall asleep!" Jenny called as Dee was turning away, she turned and gave Jenny a slightly barbaric smile and a wink before heading off.

"We should get you home." Julian said with some sort of smile that looked a little mischievous. Jenny narrowed her eyes at him, but got in the car anyway. Julian was heading towards Jenny's house when she asked, "What are you doing tonight?" He shrugged, "I'll keep myself busy. But honestly, I wont be able to think of anything but your safety." He said it as though he was stressed out and being completely honest, not as though he was trying to sound romantic. "I'll be fine. I'll grab a few Coke's and just stay home and busy. I won't fall asleep again." She said, knowing that even though she was completely exhausted, it would be hard for her to fall asleep and go back to Kale and his sick games. "I wasn't just talking about you falling asleep. It will be different for me to not be near you. I was for eleven years remember?" Jenny tried to shove her embarrassment (at all the times she danced around in her bedroom, or gossiped about boys with Audrey, or didn't shower or put on makeup and wore sweats around the house) away. "But surely you didn't watch me everyday. How boring would that get?" Jenny said logically, but Julian, obviously wasn't so logical. "I can say that I saw you at least once every day Jenny. You always had a knack for attracting trouble. You couldn't even guess the number of times I intervened so you wouldn't get hurt, or worse, throughout the years. And I told you before, I think every thing you do is marvelous. "

Jenny smiled and looked out the window, dying of embarrassment. She didn't bring up the subject again, not wanting to hear more about her privacy that never existed. They pulled up to the house and Julian reached to unbuckle his seat belt, but Jenny said, "Wait. I don't think you should meet my parents yet. I mean they don't even know I broke up with Tom." Jenny said in a rush, but Julian just leaned over and kissed Jenny. They hadn't kissed all day, and Jenny hadn't really realized until now how much she wanted to. It was electric, hot and cold, and felt like magic. Their lips moving against each other, Julian weaving his finger's in her hair. She didn't want it to end yet, but it had too. Her dad would have a heart attack if he saw Jenny kissing someone like that, even if it was Tom.

Reluctantly, very reluctantly, she pulled back. "I love you, Julian." She whispered and he smiled at her. Not an arrogant or hungry smile. A gentle smile that said she had made him happy. "I love you, Jenny." She smiled back at him and started to get out of the car. "Wait." He said. She sat back down and he scribbled a number on a notepad that was in the center console. When he handed it to her she saw that it was a phone number. "The number for the phone in my room." He said and then kissed her once more. It was quick, but didn't lack an ounce of the passion of their previous kisses.

Jenny walked up the driveway and through the front door, still smiling. "Young lady. Take a seat." Jenny's smile instantly disappeared at the sound of her fathers voice. He was standing in the living room and looked rather stern at the moment. Jenny wracked her brain for what she could have done to deserve a tone like that and too many answers came to mind: Lying about where she was last night. Lying about what happened to Summer. Vandalizing her grandfather's basement door. Getting a D in physiology. And the list went on.

She walked over to a love seat and sat on the edge of the cushion, back straight and ready to hear what her father had to say. He stared at her and shook his head slowly, like he couldn't believe that she had done something so terrible. Jenny was getting so nervous she about broke out in hysterical giggles and confessed everything, when her father began laughing. Jenny's mind stalled. Was she crazy, or did it just seem like she was going to be grounded for a month? Finally her father took a breath and her mother walked in the room as well, lying a hand on her father's shoulder. She was smiling too but she turned to her father, "Oh, Jim. That wasn't that funny. Poor Jenny here looked terrified." _Ok, what? Are they trying to play a prank on me or something? _Jenny opened her mouth to ask what the hell, when Joey walked through the living room to grab a video game and on his way back out he muttered, "They bought you a car. Mom, dad, stop being so weird," not even looking up from the game in his hand and then he was down the hallway.

"Jenny. Your father thought that it might be funny to make you think you were in trouble and then send you to clean the garage as punishment, where you would find your new car. Anyway, surprise!" Jenny was in shock, both at the idea of her almost spilling her guts about everything, and that they actually bought her a car. She jumped up and hugged both of them, "Oh, mom, dad! You didn't have to do that!" Her father handed her the keys and she ran to the garage. She flew through the door and saw a red Jetta that looked like it had never been driven. "I love it! You're the best parents in the world." She hugged them once more. "I wouldn't say that, but thank you dear. It's insured so you can drive it to school tomorrow. But only if you go upstairs and finish all your homework. I got a call from the school counselor saying your still a little behind." Her father said. She kissed him on the cheek and went back to her room, placing her car keys on her desk.

She sat down on the edge of her bed and took a deep breath. What was she going to do? Her parents bought her a car, no knowing all of the sneaking around and lying she'd been doing. She pushed the guilt that was creeping its way to the surface aside.

Jenny glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 3:50. _Four hours and some change…_Jenny thought a little miserably. She was tired and stressed out and wishing it was closer to their agreed bedtime, but feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to solve anything. Jenny sighed again and grabbed her back pack. She pulled out her physiology book and got to work on her late assignments.

* * *

><p>Jenny glanced at the clock. 8:02 pm. Almost all her make up homework was done and she had already drank what she was sure was a week's worth of Mt. Dew and she still wasn't sure she could make it one more hour. She took a quick shower and threw on another VS sweat suit, put her favorite pair of Puma sneakers on, clicked off the light, and hopped into bed. She was not willing to chance going into a game shoeless again.<p>

In a way, she was almost excited to go to sleep. She was ready for this to be over and if they weren't playing they weren't making progress. Jenny had absolute confidence in her friends and Julian and wouldn't choose anyone else to fight beside her. "Bring it on Kale." Jenny whispered to the ceiling, before glancing at the clock yet again.

8:40 pm. Jenny felt like the minutes were lasting ages as she lie their watching the clock tick down to what could be her doom. _That's a little too dramatic… _Jenny thought as her eyes shut and she drifted off to sleep almost instantly.

A/N: More to come soon! I know you shouldn't trust me because I've taken my sweet time to update and I said it would be quick before, so just stick with me! reviews are so helpful and feel free to offer advice or tell me if something doesn't make sense. To all of my reviewers so far, you all make this so much easier and you are truly amazing!


	20. Chapter 20

I told you I would update quick! Its verrrry long - enjoy!

(I own nothing, please review!)

Chapter 20

Jenny woke with a start. She sat up and looked around wildly, trying to make out her surroundings. It looked like the woods, with trees all around and dirt and plants covering the ground. Thankfully, there appeared to be a full moon above which cast a small amount of light through the tree tops.

She stood up and brushed off her now dirty sweat suit and glanced around for her friends, only to see complete stillness and nothing but silence. "Great." She whispered. Jenny looked around the forest for any sign of a path or clearing but saw nothing, just trees and more trees. So, she started walking.

It was painful how the branches crunched loudly under her feet and she was glad she made sure to put shoes on this time. Jenny was listening while she was walking, for any voices of her friends, and was startled to hear the snap of a branch behind her. She spun to find the source of the noise but saw nothing.

Immediately her fingers began to tingle and she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. Jenny turned and walked very slowly and as quietly as she could, her only thought to get away from what could have made the noise.

Jenny was passing a large tree and stepped behind it quickly and quietly, peeking out over the side to see if anyone was in fact following her. Nothing. Not even a breeze, just complete stillness. Without warning, there was a crunch on the ground directly behind her. Jenny screamed and spun around before she was even aware of what she was doing.

"Well, well, well. Alone in the woods at night?" Kale. He was leaning against the tree looking all too comfortable, while looking at Jenny like she was a bug that needing stepped on.

Jenny turned and started walking again. She was frustrated and annoyed, not scared anymore. She knew she needed a clue and had no idea what item they needed in this round but her anger at Kale pushed Jenny's common sense aside.

She heard Kale's significantly more quiet footsteps behind her. "Is that how you would treat someone here to give you a hint?" Jenny stopped walking and turned to face him.

"If that someone demands a kiss as the price for that hint, then yes." Jenny said icily. She had a false sense of security at the moment and Jenny didn't feel like being polite.

Kale laughed, "You are a little spit fire, aren't you? I guess Julian has always liked the girls that had a little bite to them."

Jenny knew he was going to try something. Maybe try to make her upset with Julian? She didn't want to stick around to find out. She began walking again. "Your going the wrong way, you know." Jenny stopped again and closed her eyes. _Julian where are you? _

"I'll give you one more chance. Do you want the hint or not? It's now or never." When Jenny turned back to Kale he looked bored. She knew she should just get it over with, but she had to ask. "Why? Its obvious you hate me and want me dead, so why make me kiss you for a hint? Julian's not here, you have no audience - no one to torture by watching - what's the point?" She said angrily.

Kale slowly walked so he was standing right in front of Jenny, invading her personal space. "Because, the only person I want to bother, is you." He said it matter of fact, laced with hatred. Jenny instantly felt afraid and knew she shouldn't have said a word.

Without warning, Kale's lips where crushing Jenny's. She felt his anger at her through the kiss, much how she had felt Julian's emotions through a kiss after he pulled her out of the water. Only this time, instead of love, it was hate. He hated Jenny for stealing Julian. He didn't think Julian should have let Jenny live, much less give up his existence for her, and he wanted to kill her, if only for his own satisfaction, even if it made Julian hate him. At least the distraction would be gone.

Jenny shoved Kale away and stumbled backwards. She was breathing heavy with the shock of what she had just felt. Kale, on the other hand, looked pleased. "Hands she has but does not hold, teeth she has but does not bite, feet she has but they are cold, eyes she has but without sight. Who is she?"

And with that, Kale was gone. She repeated the riddle in her head to make sure she would remember and then walked in the opposite direction. _At least he told me which way to go._ Jenny thought and then instantly hoped he wasn't turning her around on purpose.

Jenny was thinking about who the girl from the riddle could be, but the only thing she could come up with was a corpse. She shook her head, disgusted, when she heard a scream. _Summer! _Jenny started running as fast as she could without tripping over branches, when she ran out of the woods and onto a massive manicured lawn in front of a gothic looking mansion.

Jenny stopped and looked around for Summer, but saw no one. She walked cautiously towards the front door of the home, when she heard a loud crash and more screaming from inside the house. Jenny bolted through the door and ran inside and up the massive stair case that was to the right. She saw not only Summer, but a couple of her friends wrestling with what could only be described as a monster.

It was large, about seven feet tall, with clawed hands, no hair, decaying skin. It was currently choking Tom with one hand and Dee was on the things back, trying to simultaneously choke it. Jenny looked around for something to help, but saw nothing. Summer was crying and Audrey was kneeling beside an unconscious Michael, stroking his hair.

Jenny heard more voices from down the hall and saw Zach and Julian running toward the monster with a curtain rod sporting a wicked looking point at the end. They rammed the rod straight into the monster's side, and it let out a demonic roar. It dropped Tom, who was now purple, and Dee hopped off its back. It turned and started to take a step towards the group, but it dropped to the ground before completing the first step.

Jenny noticed Julian staring at her. He was wearing a white tee shirt, that gave a nice view of his slim muscles, with black pants, and breathing a little heavy from sprinting down the hallway. His blue eyes were brighter than ever and his hair an unholy white. He literally took Jenny's breath away.

"Ughh. What happened?" Michael groaned from the floor. "You thought you could take out a monster and he threw you against the wall," Audrey said with a smile, "But you were very brave." Michael sat up with a grimace and kissed Audrey.

Tom was rubbing his neck and his voice sounded like he had strep throat, "Jenny, where have you been? Did you fall asleep late?"

Jenny looked at her friends faces, all of them with a worried expression, except Julian. He didn't look happy, but he looked like he knew that she was with Kale. "Uh. No I actually fell asleep a little early. I woke up out in the woods and had to find my way here. And I kinda ran into Kale." Their worried expressions turned into confusion, then understanding. Julian's expression turned darker. "I have our next clue. It's a riddle. Did all of you wake here together?" Jenny said, trying to change the subject before anyone could ask if she had to kiss Kale to get the riddle.

"We were scattered around the house and ran into one another as we walked through," Dee said, understanding Jenny trying to change the subject, "So let's hear this riddle." Jenny nodded and repeated what Kale had recited for her:

"Hands she has but does not hold, teeth she has but does not bite, feet she has but they are cold, eyes she has but without sight. Who is she?"

"A dead person?" Dee asked. No one looked like they had a better idea, until Julian spoke up. "A doll." Jenny connected the dots in her head. They were in a creepy mansion, surrounded by the forest, of course there would be a creepy doll somewhere around here. _Thank God we don't have to find a dead body._ Jenny thought.

"So should we break into teams to hunt this thing down?" Zach asked, taking a step towards Summer. There were nods all around and everyone broke up into groups of two: Audrey and Mike, Summer and Zach, Dee and Tom, Jenny and Julian.

"Lets meet back here in 20 minutes." Tom said, and they all went separate ways.

Jenny and Julian walked side by side in silence for a few moments, before Julian spoke. "Are you alright?" He asked, glancing at her. The house was dark and lit by candles lining the walls, so Jenny couldn't quite make out his expression.

"Yes." Jenny said. She couldn't say more, because she wasn't really sure. She had never felt hatred so strong directed at her, and quite honestly, it made her nauseous.

Julian stopped and turned Jenny so that she was facing him. "He didn't hurt you did he?" Julian asked dangerously.

"No." Again, she couldn't really say more, because he had hurt her emotionally, but she wasn't going to tell Julian that.

Julian's eyes looked over her face and he pulled her into a hug. It was exactly what she needed at that moment. Jenny sighed and relaxed into Julian's embrace, when a door slammed further down the hall. Jenny jumped at the sudden noise in the quiet and let Julian take her hand and make their way down the hallway.

They came to a single door and Julian opened it cautiously. It was dark inside, save for the small amount of light from the candle-lit hallway, but Jenny could make out a bed.

Julian walked inside the room very slowly and Jenny followed. It was a very large room, but too dark for Jenny to make out any of it's contents. Julian walked away from Jenny and flung open curtains covering a large window.

Jenny stifled a scream. The moon light outside lit the room enough for Jenny to see dozens of creepy looking porcelain dolls lining the walls on mounted shelves. It seemed as though they were all looking at her with a sinister expression. She was never fond of porcelain dolls and had quite a few nightmares about them after a babysitter let her watch chucky as a little girl.

"How do we know which doll we are supposed to grab?" Jenny whispered. Julian was walking along the walls, looking at each of the dolls. "Jenny." She looked at him. "I need you to be very strong right now. Just like you were in my games. I know we can do this." Julian was holding her hand.

Jenny shook her head slowly, realizing what Julian meant. It was only a second later that Jenny felt a hand on her leg.

A/N: I will update quickly again! I promise!


	21. Chapter 21

sorry about the cliffy! hopefully this will make up for the last chapter! as always, i am not lj smith and i do not own anything. i hope you enjoy and please leave feedback because that is really what makes it easier to update soon.

Chapter 21

At first Jenny thought her leg touched a dresser or the bed post, but when she looked down and saw a doll she screamed. Really screamed. Jenny instinctually kicked it away, where it landed on the side of the bed where Jenny couldn't see. Breathing heavy, she looked around for any others that might be walking around. The worst part was that they weren't little dolls, there were about 3 feet tall. The kind of standing porcelain dolls that are usually dressed in a Victorian way.

"Jenny!" Julian said in a hushed tone. She looked at him reluctantly, terrified that if she look her eyes away from the floor another doll would sneak up on her.

"The riddle says, she has eyes but without sight. I don't think they can see us, but they can hear us." He whispered. Jenny nodded and whispered as quietly as she could, "How do we know which one?"

Julian looked around the room again, when his focus stayed on the right wall. Jenny looked where Julian was looking and felt her fingers tingle. Each wall had shelves from floor to ceiling, filled with rows of dolls, but this wall had several empty spots. Spaces between the dolls where more dolls should have been sitting, where Jenny was sure they were sitting, but now were as empty as if the dolls got up and walked away.

Jenny couldn't hold in a yelp when she felt a sharp pain on the thigh of her leg. She looked down in horror to see a doll biting her. She was so terrified and shocked that pushed it over and she stomped on it. It was porcelain and its face cracked with every stomp, but to Jenny's horror it was still moving it's arms. _You can't kill something that isn't alive! _Her mind screamed at her, but she couldn't stop.

Julian pulled her back a few feet, but he wasn't focused on her. He was looking in front of them, eyes scanning back and forth as if looking for something. Again, Jenny looked to see what he was looking at, and saw an army of dolls.

They moved jerkily, their upper bodies sort of flapping around with no spine to hold them upright. She heard what sounded like muffled, wrong giggling. They were slow, which was an advantage for Jenny and Julian. Their eyes looked like they were a dark red and several had deformed faces, but all had teeth. Wicked looking teeth. Jenny could make out the one that she stomped on in the dark. There were several pieces missing from its face. Julian pulled Jenny towards the bed and lifted her up on it.

The dolls saw. They changed their course to head towards the bed where they were now standing. "Julian! They can see! And the other doll bit me. The riddle says, teeth she has but does not bite!" Jenny said excitedly.

"Right! Then there has to be a doll in here that's just a doll. Can you see it?"

Jenny scanned the room but it was too dark and too hard to focus when the demon dolls were pulling at the blankets on the bed. "I can't see any other dolls! Its too dark!" Jenny yelled. It seemed like there weren't any more dolls on the shelves, they were covering the whole bedroom floor, jerking around, eyes and teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

"I see it. It's on the top shelf of the left wall, but I can't reach it." Jenny looked where Julian indicated and saw that it was in the very middle of the top shelf, Jenny guessed about 12 feet up. Just a doll, sitting there innocently. Jenny looked around the floor again. They couldn't make it to the wall without stepping through dozens of dolls. But the worst that had been done to her was a bite. It was painful and Jenny was sure she was bleeding, but it was just a bite. Jenny reasoned with herself they were more to scare her than to hurt her.

"Can you lift me up when we get to the wall?" She asked Julian. He knelt down on the bed in front of Jenny. "Get on my shoulders. It will be harder for both of us to make it through all those dolls and then try to do this."

Jenny nodded and got on Julian's shoulders. She wrapped her feet around his back and he held on to her knees above his shoulders. "Ready?" Julian didn't wait for an answer and Jenny was glad. If he had, she might have said no. He was still kneeling and put one leg off the bed and then the other making him stand up straight.

It was instant. The dolls swarmed around Julian, scratching and biting. He let out a growl when one of the dolls got a good chunk out of his leg but he didn't stop. Jenny held tight with her legs as it was a shaky ride but they were almost there. Julian was going as fast as he could through the dolls, but it was still slow. He had to push the dolls in front of him away before each step.

Jenny looked up at where the doll was and her heart sank. It was higher than she'd originally thought. From standing on the bed, it appeared the doll wasn't too high, but now, even riding on Julian's shoulders, Jenny would have to reach and hope her arms were long enough. _Damn high ceiling… _Jenny thought.

"Ok!" Jenny said when Julian was as close as she needed him to be. Jenny reached her hand up as far as she could. Her fingers just reached over the edge of the shelf where she could feel the dolls cold foot with the tip of her finger's, but she couldn't reach enough to grab it. "I can't reach it!" Jenny yelled.

Julian must have stood on his tip toes because Jenny was suddenly about two inches closer. Jenny had just closed her hand around the dolls foot when she felt Julian jerk. "Hang on!" Julian yelled, and a second later Jenny understood why.

A doll had found a way to climb up Julian's back using his belt and had got a hold of Jenny's loose hair.

Jenny squeezed the dolls foot and pulled it towards her just as she felt a sharp tug on her hair. Jenny reached up and tried to grab the edge of the shelf to steady her and Julian with the doll on their backs. Her fingers just over the edge, she pulled the doll the rest of the way off the shelf and hugged it to her with the hand not holding the shelf.

"Got it!" Jenny yelled, and then she felt Julian jerk again. There was another doll climbing up his back and onto Jenny's. This one was very spider like and using its fingernails. Jenny tried not to scream as its nails sliced into her back. The weight of the doll on her back combined with the doll that was now pulling her hair was too much.

Jenny's finger's slipped off the edge of the shelf and she felt herself leaning backwards with the weight of the dolls. "Julian!" Jenny yelled but there was nothing he could do. She was falling backwards because of the damn dolls and because she made Julian top heavy, he was falling backwards with her.

There was no way to brace for that kind of landing, and it hurt. Jenny had the wind knocked out of her from landing flat on her back and had smacked the back of her head on the floor. She made sure her arms were locked around the doll they needed, just as the dolls covered her like bugs.

She screamed when a doll bit into the skin on her stomach and could feel Julian moving by her legs. Jenny's eyes were squeezed shut and she was holding the doll as tightly as she could, when she blacked out.

Jenny opened her eyes which felt incredibly heavy. _A white ceiling. I'm in my bed. _Jenny looked down at her chest and saw she was still holding the doll. She sat up and put the doll down beside her on the bed. It was the same type of doll as the other porcelain dolls, only this one had a normal, sweet looking face. Jenny lifter up her shirt and saw a raw, bleeding, circular bite mark. She looked at her thigh and saw the same thing, only that one was starting to bruise.

Jenny hopped up and looked in the mirror. She looked well rested, and her hair had a nice curl to it from sleeping with it up right after a shower. No sign she was battling evil in her dreams last night.

Jenny jumped when her phone rang, but picked it up before the second ring as to not wake up her family.

"Hello?" Jenny answered knowing that it had to be one of her friends.

"Jenny. You did it, are you alright?" _Julian…_

"The doll is sitting on my bed, but I'm fine. What about you? They really tore into you." Jenny said remembering the way the dolls scratched at his legs and climbed up his back.

"I'm just fine. Do you want a ride to school?"

Jenny smiled. She had a car and totally forgot about it.

"That's alright, I'll meet you there." Jenny heard the beep of her call waiting and knew it was probably Dee or Audrey.

"If your sure." Julian had said.

"I am. Hey, I think Dee is calling. I'll see you at school?"

"You will. I love you Jenny, be safe."

"I love you. Thank you!"

Jenny smiled, at how strange it was to tell Julian she loved him and how right it felt at the same time, as she clicked to flash button on the phone.

"Jenny!" It was Audrey.

"Hey Audrey, we did it!"

"We did? Oh, good. I was a little worried suddenly waking up like that. What happened?"

"it's a long, disturbing, story. You want to meet with everyone before class and we can go over everything?"

"Sure! I'll start the telephone train. See you soon!"

Jenny hung up and was glad Audrey would call the others for her. She went over to her closet and picked out a flowey light pink tank top and skinny jeans with flats. Her hair looked great with its kinky curls from sleeping with it twisted up and she put on her usual makeup. She smiled down at her ring on her left ring finger. She felt great. They were winning this damned game and it was the last one. She actually felt rested today and was almost caught up in school.

Jenny grabbed her car keys off her desk and skipped to the garage to start her new car. It roared to life and Pat Benetar's song, Shadow's of the Night. came on the radio. Jenny smiled at how appropriate the song was for the day. She turned it up and she pulled out of the garage and headed to school with a smile.

A/N: more to come soon! please please review!


	22. Chapter 22

I dont own anything! Enjoy, and please, pretty please review!

Chapter 22

When Jenny pulled into the parking lot of the school, her friends were already gathered around Julian, talking. Jenny parked and walked over to the group, a smile plastered across her face. Julian saw her first and smiled a wolf hungry smile, eyes gleaming like cobalt. He was wearing a white button down shirt with tight black pants and black combat looking boots. Jenny had to hold back a girlish giggle at how hot he looked.

Jenny was aware everyone was watching them, but she didn't mind when Julian kissed her and pulled her tight against his body. He pulled back and whispered in her ear, "You did great last night. I couldn't be more proud of you." Jenny pulled back and smiled, "Thank you but you did amazing yourself. Are you banged up pretty bad?" Jenny asked, motioning to his back. "Nothing that won't heal." He said smirking.

"Uh, guys?" Michael called from the rest of the group a few feet away. Jenny and Julian joined the group and Jenny asked, "Hey guys what's up? Did Julian fill you on with what happened last night?"

Dee nodded, "Sounds pretty demented if you ask me. But on the bright side, we just have to stay awake through today and kick Kale's ass one more time tonight and we should be home free."

"Should be." Tom said. "We all know shadow men aren't exactly truthful."

"Tom!" Audrey snapped before Julian could say whatever was on the tip of his tongue. "We are all on the same side here and we need to act like it." She said sternly.

Jenny put her hand on Julian's and his expression softened when he looked at her.

The bell rang and Jenny sighed. She wasn't physically tired, but all of a sudden she felt mentally drained. What she wanted more than anything at the moment was to zone out and give her brain a rest. It seemed Jenny wasn't the only one with skipping on her mind.

"Hey. Do any of you guys want to cut?" Summer asked, which almost shocked Jenny. She must have been drained as well. There were nods of agreement all around.

"Well if we're gonna do this we should get off campus now." Dee said grabbing her backpack off the ground. "Where should we go?"

"We should get out of town. Julian can we go to your room?" Summer asked. All eyes were on Julian. Jenny could tell it was still a little weird for them to be around him, but being on the same side against Kale took some of the awkwardness away.

"Sure. Anyone need a ride?" Julian asked. Summer, who was growing fond of Julian - Jenny could tell - said she did, along with Zach, but everyone else had driven their own cars to school.

"Jenny, did you get a ride with someone else?" Tom asked. "Oh! No, I forgot to say something. My parents got me a car." Jenny said holding up the keys. The group made an appropriate amount of oohing and awwing before everyone got in their cars and followed Julian onto the freeway.

As she drove Jenny couldn't help but think about her life. It was crazy that she was in love with an ex-shadow man and had his very life wrapped around her finger. It was crazy that they were in a life or death game with a shadow man who hated her. It was crazy that her friends stood by her through all of the craziness. But by far, the most crazy thing of all, was that it didn't seem all that crazy anymore. She was actually getting used to the idea of battling shadow men and using runes and other worlds.

_At least we're winning… Two out of three, right? _Jenny thought to herself just as her radio shut off. It was droning on as quiet background noise that Jenny hadn't even heard, while she was lost in her thoughts. Confused, Jenny reached over and turned it back on, just to see if it would work. When, it came on again the station was on a rock station that Jenny never listened to, and the song that blared through the speaker was AC/DC's Highway to Hell.

Jenny froze, thinking it had to be Kale, it couldn't just be a coincidence, but the game was played in their dreams and Jenny knew she was awake.

Jenny looked up just in time to see Julian's car swerve to the right way too sharp and hit the guardrail on the side of the freeway. She screamed in horror thinking of Julian and Summer in the smashed car and was too distracted to see the rolled semi -truck causing a huge pile up in front of her.

Jenny slammed on the breaks as hard as she could, but it was too late. She squeezed her eyes shut as the song blared in her ears, and her car hit the pile up dead on.

A/N: I know! I cant help it! its just so easy to end with cliff hangers! ill update tomorrow sometime so you wont have to wait too long. if you hate me please review and let me know so i know your reading. to all of my reviewers for the last few chapters - thank you guys! you are seriously awesome and make my day! you make it easier to update knowing that there are people reading this and liking it :)


	23. Chapter 23

Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews, you guys are great! I creeped my self out writing this one, so hopefully that means its good. See previous disclaimers because nothing has changed in the ownership dept. I really hope you like it!

Chapter 23

Jenny opened her eyes and found herself in a place she didn't recognize. It smelt sterile and she saw monitors and wires. _The hospital. Oh my God, the car accident. _Jenny bolted to a sitting position and immediately wished she didn't. Her neck hurt and her head was spinning. She looked down and saw her arm was wrapped in a ace wrap and incredibly sore but not broken. Her face and chest felt as though someone used her as a punching bag.

After a deep breath, she sat up again, very slowly. She was in a hospital gown but she could see her clothes folded neatly on a chair in the room. She was alone. "Hello?" She called thinking that someone should be in ear shot outside the door but she got no response.

_Where are my friends and my parents? The hospital surely would have called and my friends saw the accident. Unless they were in it too. _Jenny paled. They were right behind her, maybe they couldn't stop in time either. _And Julian and Summer and Zach! _

Jenny gently threw one leg over the side of the bed and found her upper thighs were incredibly bruised. _Probably from the seat belt… _She threw the other leg over and took a shaky step away from the bed. She hurt from head to toe but was amazed that she wasn't in worse shape.

Jenny carefully changed back in to what was supposed to be her school clothes for the day and opened the door to the hallway. It was dim, but a typical hospital hall. There was a sign indicating the nurses station was just down the hall. She walked slowly with one hand on the wall for support, but when she reached the station, there was no one there.

"Hello?" She called. No, answer, just silence. She went around the counter and looked for a phone. There was an office phone sitting by the computer and Jenny picked it up and hit 0 hoping it would take her to the hospital switchboard.

"Vista Grande Hospital, how may I direct your call?"

"Hi, I was wondering if I could find out if my friends were admitted."

"I'll transfer you."

The hold music was too cheery and almost made Jenny feel uneasy.

"Admissions, how can I help you?" Asked a male voice.

"Hi, I was wondering if a Summer Parker-Pearson and Zachary Taylor were admitted."

"Let me see. Yes they were along with another young man with no identification. They are in the morgue."

Jenny froze and felt all the blood drain from her face. No, that's not right.

"The…the morgue? Are you sure?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Jenny dropped the phone. And sat on the ground, unsure that her legs could hold her any longer. _Julian, Summer, and Zach… No. It's a mistake. They are fine. _

Jenny focused on her breathing and pulled herself up. She made her way to a wall sporting a hospital map and saw that the morgue was on the basement floor which she guessed it would be.

She got in the elevator and pressed the basement button and hoped no one stopped her on her way down. _There's that damn cheery music again. Why would someone decide to play that in a hospital? _She thought to herself.

The elevator stopped at the basement and Jenny walked out into a bright white hallway. Her only choice was to walk straight, so she did. After a minute, Jenny came to a door marked "Morgue".

She stopped, hand on the door handle. What was she hoping to find? She didn't want to see her friends in here, she wanted it to be a mistake. Was she ready to see them dead? No, she would have a mental breakdown and then some hospital worker would find her and take her to the psych ward.

Jenny took a deep breath and opened the door. It was dimly lit and cold. There was a wall lined with the refrigerated drawers they keep bodies in, but more disturbing to that, there were three covered bodies on three exam tables awaiting autopsies.

She just stood there for a moment. She felt like she went deaf with panic. _I have to know. I have to be sure before I loose it… _She slowly, painfully walked over to the smallest body and slowly pulled the sheet down to expose the face.

Blonde ringlets. _No, Summer. No! _"No! No! No!" Jenny screamed. Jenny practically ran to the second body thinking that maybe Zach and Julian had survived and these were other victims from the pile up. She yanked the cover off. Zach. Jenny didn't waste another second and ripped the sheet off the third body. Julian.

She was completely numb. She looked at his face. He was pale, so pale. His hair still whiter than frost and face perfectly sculpted. His eyes were shut, thank god, because if she had to look at his lifeless eyes she would have completely lost it and quite possibly never come back from that.

Jenny wasn't crying, she wasn't hysterical, she wasn't even angry. She was numb. Jenny sat on the floor and leaned up against the body drawers. Some small part of her mind registered that she shouldn't sit there because it was gross, but she didn't have the strength to move.

She had no idea how long she had sat there before something didn't make sense. Where is everyone else? Summer and Zach's parents? Her other friends? Her family? And where are the workers from the hospital? Jenny realized she hadn't seen a single person since waking up. _Waking up. _

She would have jumped up if her body wasn't so sore, so she remained seated. "I never woke up." She whispered to no one other than herself. "I was knocked out from the accident and I didn't wake up yet. I'm asleep. I'm in the game. They're alive!" She laughed. This was probably one of Kale's sick tricks. Make her give up before she even started.

"Are you so sure?" Kale. Jenny looked to see him leaning against the door to the hallway. It made her feel very trapped.

"Have you looked in the mirror? You look pretty rough." He said completely serious. "Your right, you are dreaming. But how can you be so sure your friends made it? You haven't seen them have you?"

Jenny didn't know what to say. If she played her cards right she might be able to get Kale to slip up and say whether or not they were really ok.

She looked him square in the eyes. "I have seen them. Right here." She motioned to the bodies on the exam tables.

He had a sick excitement in his silver eyes. Jenny only then took in his appearance. Black leather jacket, black shirt, black pants and boots. His black hair even darker, the dark aura he gave off. He truly was evil.

"Yes, you have seen them, haven't you?"

He was being careful. She wanted to stand up, but she had too much pride for Kale to see her struggle, so she straightened her back against the drawers. Jenny took a chance.

"There's really only one way for me to find out if Julian's dead right?" Jenny said as she pulled the ring off her finger. Kale had said if she took it off, Julian would start fading away. Jenny had no idea how long it took for that process to happen and had no idea, if in fact he really was dead right here, it would work. So, she watched Kale's reaction instead.

He looked confused for a millisecond and then laughed. It was empty and hollow and mocking. "Oh, Jenny. If Julian isn't dead, wouldn't it be a pity for you to have killed him?"

Jenny shrugged. "If he's dead it doesn't matter."

"But if he's not it will." Kale retorted emotionlessly.

"So is he dead? Should I put this back on?"

"What do you think?"

"I think you would be disappointed if you lost your _brother._" She said the word brother as mockingly as she could muster.

Kale was in her personal space before she could blink. Kneeling in front of her seething. If Jenny knew he could touch her she would have been more afraid, but all he could do was kiss her and she doubted he would do that when he was this angry.

"You want to make me angry? Do you want to see what I'm capable of? You don't have Julian here to protect you. You need to understand that Julian and I are _very _different and I wont hesitate to kill you. You want a hint? Put the damn ring back on." And with that he was gone.

Jenny put the ring back on in the next second and breathed a sigh of relief. Julian was ok. Kale wouldn't have gotten worked up like that if he was dead and she doubted he would have told her to put the ring on if he was dead. She still didn't know for sure, but she was going to operate as though all her friends were just fine.

Now, the only problem would be finding them. In a big, empty, hospital.

Now that Jenny knew she was asleep and anything could happen, she didn't feel as comfortable leaning against a wall of lockers holding dead bodies that could come awake at any second.

She pulled herself up wincing and walked to the door. She didn't look back at the lifeless bodies of her friends because she told herself that was an illusion to make her give up and she repeated over and over in her head that they were alive and running (or slowly walking with a wince like Jenny) around here somewhere.

Jenny came to the elevator and hit the button thinking she would start at the top floor and work her way down. She wasn't too comfortable taking the elevator in a game played with Kale, but Jenny just couldn't take the stairs. She remembered Kale's comment about looking in the mirror and was worried about just how beat up she looked.

When the doors dinged open Jenny stepped inside and hit the 7th floor button. She remembered the comment Zach had made a few days ago about a nightmare he had involving an elevator but instantly shook her head to clear that away.

When she finally reached the top unharmed and the doors opened, she let out the breath she had been holding and hoped out. The floor was yet again, a typical hospital floor and Jenny realized she didn't know what to do.

She didn't think they were getting a hint this time after she upset Kale and thought that instead of giving her a hint he suggested she put Julian's ring back on, which to Jenny seemed like he was saying Julian was alive. She could walk up and down the halls of each floor calling her friends name's but she didn't want to attract the attention of any shadow creatures that might be lurking around.

She was walking slowly peeking in rooms as she walked by. This floor seemed odd. Almost every other room Jenny peeked into had white padding on the walls and the décor was very simple but kind of childish. _This must be the floor for the crazies. _Jenny thought.

"Hey!"

Jenny about ran when the voice hollered at her and she turned to see a man in an operating uniform. She slowly took steps away unsure what to do and when he took a step towards her, she ran. Well as fast as she could after a head on collision in her brand new car.

"Your needed in the operating room!" The man yelled which terrified Jenny since she couldn't tell if he meant for assistance or the one to be operated on.

Jenny was running out of hallway, and ducked into the nearest room and shut the door. There was a depression lock on the inside which seemed weird since it happened to be a padded room, but thankfully she pressed the lock anyway and backed away from the door. There was a small window in the door and Jenny watched to see if the man would try to get in.

He walked past the room, then came back and looked through the window at Jenny. He looked wrong. His eyes were sunken in and his skin a grayish sickly color. He had a crazed expression and Jenny stifled a scream when he smiled. He looked certifiably insane.

He jiggled the door handle and began humming the cheery elevator music all the while staring at Jenny. She backed into a corner and looked at the floor, not wanting to see his nasty face, hoping he would get bored and go away.

He didn't.

Jenny felt like she was going to go insane. It felt like hours, but it was most likely minutes, later and he was still staring, humming, and jiggling the door handle. Since she had already attracted the attention of a creeper, she decided she should start yelling.

"Dee! Julian! Somebody!" She listened for a response but the humming only got louder. "Hello! Please?" The humming got louder.

Jenny sat down in the corner and covered her ears and closed her eyes. _Oh, thank you…_ She thought when the noise from the crazy man stopped. She looked up to see if he was still there, and screamed.

He was standing in the door way which was now wide open, smiling at Jenny.

A/N: remember to review!


	24. Authors Note

Hello everybody! I cannot say how sorry I am for leaving you all hanging like this ): I know how disappointed I get when I fall in love with a story and it gets abandoned, so truly I am so sorry! I am working on chapter 24 right now and I am hoping to have it up by tomorrow night (12/23/14) just consider it my Christmas present to you all :) I love all my reviewers and you are the reason that I will continue and finish this story. I go through phases when I re read my favorite books and needless to say, I just re-read the Forbidden Game. I was looking for fanfics to read and was sad that there haven't been many on TFG lately, so I figured I might as well do my part. I love you all! 


	25. Chapter 24

And so the story continues….

Chapter 24

Jenny stared in horror at the man in the doorway. His blank eyes and sick smile making Jenny feel like she was going to pass out. She would have welcomed it in that moment with the sick fear almost being too much to bear, but she knew if she did, she would surely die.

"Help!" Jenny screamed as loud as she could. "Someone please! Julian! Zach!" But the only response she got was the insane laugh of the man in the operating uniform.

He took a slow step towards Jenny, as if daring her to try to run around him. Jenny slowly stood up and put herself in the cat stance that Dee had taught her, and got ready to try to kick him if he got close enough. He took another slow step, then another, and another until he was close enough for Jenny to see his decaying teeth and jaundiced eyes.

_Now! _Jenny thought as she kicked her foot out and managed to hit him in the stomach. As soon as he doubled over Jenny bolted past him and ran screaming down the hospital hallway.

"Julian! Zach! Anybody! Please!" She ran with all her might having no idea where the hallway lead that she was sprinting down, just with the single desire to get away from the crazy man.

She reached the end of the hall where she had to choose left or right. She chose left on a whim and as soon as she rounded the corner she ran straight into the arms of a man. Jenny looked up hopeful to see Julian, but let out a scream that rang off the light fixtures when she saw the face of the very man she had kicked.

"You're needed in the operating room." He said with his sick smile. Jenny gagged when his breath hit her face and smelt of dead fish. She twisted, and pushed, and pulled, but made no progress in getting away. The man pulled Jenny's arms behind her back and then wrapped something tightly around her wrists.

"Please, just let me go!" Jenny yelled at the man, but he did nothing but laugh and shove her roughly forward. Jenny looked up to see that they were headed for a door labeled 'Operating Room 1'. He put his hands on her shoulders from behind her and steered her closer to the door.

"No!" Jenny screamed and tried to throw her weight backwards into the man, but only succeeded in making them both stumble.

Just then, the door to the operating room opened and three other men came out, all dressed in scrubs and looking just as sick and insane as the man behind her. Jenny tried to kick and scream with all her might, but she was severely outnumbered and with her hands tied there was nothing she could do.

They pulled her into the room, which looked like any normal operating room, and placed her so that she was sitting on the operating table. One of the men pulled on her arms and felt him cut her hands free. In that next second she swung her arm as hard as she could and managed to land a blow to one of the mens faces, but that was all she had time for.

The men quickly grabbed her arms and legs. Stretching her legs down to the corners of the table, the men fastened Velcro straps around her ankles and then pulled her arms up above her head and fastened them as well.

Jenny pulled on her restraints with all her might, rubbing her wrists raw in the process but she didn't care. She couldn't comprehend anything that was happening. It was too horrifying, too terrible to be real, to be happening to her right now.

"Please." She begged, one last try to get the men to let her go even though she knew it was useless. They weren't real. They were created by Kale and Kale had no humanity in him to appeal to. She saw one of the men wheel over a silver tray full of different operating instruments. She saw scalpels, knives, scissors, and even one of those things that stretch your ribs apart so surgeons can get to your heart.

_I can't die like this. Not now, not like this… _Jenny thought, but she didn't see any way out of the situation. She knew Kale wanted her dead and he was getting exactly what he wanted. Her dead so he could have his playmate back. Jenny was suddenly struck by a thought. A thought so impossible she almost dismissed it immediately, but a small voice in the back of her mind wouldn't let her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the men pick up a scalpel with a sick gleam in his eye. Jenny had made her mind up. She would not let Kale win. Even if she had to die, she would not let him win. "Kale!" Jenny screamed. But there was no answer other than the breathing of the men around her and the slow footsteps of the man with the scalpel walking to her side.

"Kale! I want to talk to you!" She yelled this time as a demand.

Jenny felt the scalpel press into her already bandaged arm, slowly cutting through the bandages and into the flesh of her forearm.

"Kale!" Jenny screamed with all her might as her vision started to fog up, unconsciousness pulling at her mind as though to protect her from experiencing what would happen next.

"What could you possibly want to talk about? The show was just about to start." A voice like wind chimes said from across the room


	26. Chapter 25

Hello and Merry Christmas Eve! Sorry it took me a minute to get back into writing this. Since it's been so long I hope I am still writing it the same as I was before. I love reviews, they are what keep me motivated, so please review away! Oh and please let me know if I ever break character too terribly. Enjoy!

**Chapter 25**

Jenny winced and took a sharp breath at the pain in her arm. She looked at the scalpel the man still had stuck in her arm and then back to Kale.

"Whatever you want to say make it quick. My friends here are eager to get their little operation going."

Kale said casually, making it clear he wasn't going to have the man remove the scalpel while Jenny spoke. Jenny took a deep breath and tried to focus through the stinging pain in her arm.

"You said you want Julian back as your brother right? Your friend?" Jenny said urgently.

"I think I've made that clear. Have you got anything of importance to say?" Kale replied clearly annoyed that Jenny was stalling for time.

"Well," Jenny took a deep breath, "You can't deny that Julian loves me, I mean he sacrificed himself for me. What do you think it would do to your relationship if he finds out that you let a couple of creeps cut me apart?"

Kale laughed mockingly, "Have you ever heard the expression: time heals all wounds? Well when you're a shadow man and you live forever that's hardly any concern of mine Jenny."

"What if I could spare you any problems with Julian and you could still get him back. As a shadow man." Jenny asked.

Kale stared at Jenny for a moment, before replying tiredly. "I don't know if you've been able to get it through your pretty little head yet, but I don't like you. Any pain that you feel – brings me pleasure. It would make my day to watch you be dissected alive right now, in fact it would make my year. So if you're going to ask for me to allow you to commit suicide, you can just forget that idea right now."

Jenny was at a loss for words while Kale's response sunk in. Never in her life had she heard such hateful talk directed at her, not even from the other shadow men. Jenny shook the discomfort aside and spoke like she knew what she wanted, like she wasn't afraid.

"I don't want to commit suicide. I want you to give me to the other shadow men in exchange for Julian being carved back into the rune stave. I'm the one they've wanted all along, the one that got away. Plus Julian wouldn't have to know that you handed me over, you can tell him that I went of my own free will. That way, you can have Julian back and he won't be distracted by me anymore. That's what you want, right?" Jenny held her breath and Kale's eyes. "I don't want anyone else to have to die for me again. Especially Julian."

Kale stared hard at Jenny. His eyes boring into her soul. She held his gaze and tried to look strong. What she said was true. She didn't want anyone to die for her. First her grandfather, then Julian. Jenny had felt intense guilt over their deaths. And pressure. The pressure to make her life meaningful so their deaths wouldn't have been in vain. As soon as Jenny had told Kale what she wanted, to take the place that was meant for her all along, she felt that weight and pressure lift off her shoulders.

Jenny didn't want to die. Not yet. She really didn't want to die. Especially at the hands of the other shadow men. But there was no other option. Not when she was facing death this very moment, a gruesome death that would no doubt haunt Julian and her friends for the rest of their lives. This was the better option. She would go and offer herself up and finish everything once and for all. Her friends would be sad, but they would eventually move on and live normal lives, free of the shadow world and nightmares. Julian… _Julian… _He would be devastated. He said it himself – he could handle anything as long as she was safe. But Kale had also said what Jenny believed to be true – time heals all wounds. Once Julian was a shadow man again, he could do whatever he wanted, create whatever he wanted, and eventually, someday, he would come to terms with Jenny's choice.

Kale was still staring, thinking, Jenny could tell, about her offer. After what felt like an eternity with a blade in her arm, Kale finally smiled. Not a happy or smug smile. One of pure evil deviousness that made Jenny's stomach flip.

"Alright. I accept your offer. We will go to the shadow world and I'll hand you over to my ancestors."

Jenny released the breath she had been holding and looked to the man with the scalpel, waiting for him to remove it and un-Velcro her ankles and wrists so they could go, but no one made a move. Jenny looked back to Kale only to see that sick smile still on his face.

"But before I hand you over, I want to have a little fun with you."

As soon as Kale finished speaking, the man with the scalpel pulled it up the length of Jenny's forearm. She screamed involuntary, as though her body was reacting to the situation before Jenny's mind caught up with what just happened.

The man in the operating uniform just giggled. Jenny felt white hot pain in her arm and could feel the blood soaking through what little of the bandage was still on her arm. Jenny looked to Kale, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking thoughtfully at the silver tray with all the operating instruments on it.

"Now, that one." Kale said to the man. Jenny looked between the two men, horrified. She saw the man pick up a wickedly sharp knife.

"I told you that you could take me to the shadow men, why are you doing this?" Jenny demanded of Kale. She knew why. He has only said it so many times, but Jenny wasn't thinking properly. Her mind was operating purely on fear and adrenaline. Kale didn't seem to mind spelling it out to Jenny again though.

He walked over to her so that he was standing right next to the operating table, looking down at Jenny. "I hate you. You took my friend away. We were brothers. We worked together for centuries, and then you come along. At first, I didn't care. Julian was still around, we still played games. But then, as you got older, he checked out. He didn't care about anything other than you. You ruined my life. It only seems fitting to return the favor."

Jenny felt an intense amount of pressure that was slowly turning to an unbearable pain erupt in her thigh. She looked down and saw the handle of the knife sticking out of her jeans. Blood slowly staining a circle around the knife.

Jenny just stared at the handle of the knife jutting out of her leg. _It looks so strange… _Jenny thought as her mind started to fog up, the pain subsiding. She welcomed unconsciousness and slipped into darkness.

* * *

><p>Jenny was drifting in darkness. She felt comfortable, warm, at peace. <em>Am I dead? <em>With this thought, the memories of the operating room came rushing back to her. She didn't want to open her eyes, to see the men standing around her. Slowly, carefully she moved her arm, flexing her hand. _But there's no pain…and it's not velcro'd down anymore. _Jenny forced herself to open her eyes.

She looked at her arm. It was re-bandaged in a fresh ace wrap and was only slightly sore, like she had played too much tennis with it. Jenny sat up and noticed why she felt warm and comfortable. She was sitting in a huge four poster bed covered with black satin sheets. The room was massive and looked like something from a gothic mansion. Stone walls and marble floors. A massive window looking out to a dark night sky spotted with stars. There was a lit fireplace ablaze, but as soon as she pushed the covers off herself she still felt the chill in the room.

Jenny forced herself to look down at her jeans. They looked perfect. No evidence of being stabbed at all. There was no pain there either - only the bruised feeling she had when she first woke up from the hospital, like the seat belt put too much force on her upper thighs in the car accident.

Jenny remembered the deal she had made with Kale. Now that she was out of the operating room, now that she wasn't looking death in the face, she started to regret it. _No. _She told herself, _don't think like that. You have to do this, for your friends, for Julian. There was no way to win that game. We weren't getting a clue and there would be no way to know what object to grab. It was hopeless. Now where am I?_

Jenny slowly and quietly got out of the bed. She saw her shoes on the night stand and slipped them on. She wished she had worn something warmer that day. It was too chilly in this place for jeans and a white long sleeve cotton shirt.

She made her way to the door and pressed her ear against it, listening for any sounds that might let her know where she is. She heard nothing but her own breathing. Jenny walked over to the window and tried to lift it. To her surprise it slid up easily and noiselessly.

She stuck her head out and looked down. She instantly felt dizzy. The room was up so high, at least six or seven floors between her and the ground. There were ledges at every floor and all sorts of bricks jutting out in places which would allow Jenny foot and handholds to climb down, but if she froze, if she looked down and got dizzy?

Jenny looked out over the grounds and saw a sprawling garden of thorny rose beds made into what looked like a maze. There was a fountain, but the water looked dark, almost muddy. It wasn't beautiful, it looked sinister. Jenny didn't want to go wandering through that maze at night.

She walked back over to the door only to hear a set of footsteps on the other side. _Hide! _Jenny ran over to the bed and slid under on her stomach so she could look at the shoes of the person.

The door opened slowly with a creak and banged up against the wall. The person, _a man it looks like, _took a few slow steps into the room and stopped at the foot of the bed. Jenny held her breath and tried to calm herself. The man then walked briskly over to the window.

Jenny heard him chuckle, the beautiful sound of dark wind chimes. Kale. Kale slammed the window shut and swore under his breath. "You can run but you can't hide, Jenny." He whispered to the window and then turned and walked out the door.

Jenny released the breath she was holding and listened. She didn't hear anything but her own heart beating wildly. _No, I won't panic. Not now, think! _Jenny stayed where she was, listening, waiting to hear something that would prove her friends were here too. She heard nothing.

She laid her head down on her arms and tried to think about what her next step would be, when she felt a hand around her ankle yank her out from under the bed. She was hoisted up to standing and she came eye to eye with none other than Kale.

"Did you really think," Kale snarled at Jenny, silver eyes shining, "that you could hide from the shadow man?"

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